


Church of Bones

by PurpleDragoness



Series: Rise of the Guardians [2]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: F/M, Horror, Romance, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-01
Updated: 2014-05-01
Packaged: 2018-01-21 12:27:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 52,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1550420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleDragoness/pseuds/PurpleDragoness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Necromancy is the use of powers especially for evil purposes. It is the magic of divinity. And, sometimes, it is the magic of both. When both are combined, deadly results happen. Long dead murderers are alive again, and it is up to all of the Spirits and Guardians to protect the humans from the myth of old, the legends of the End of Days.  Sequel to "What Is Your Center?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This plot is what struck my idea for my NaNoWriMo piece. Due to that, I apologize if this fic gets dark at some points. My ROTG fics focus on darker side of the universe anyway. It's to be expected. :3
> 
> This is the sequel to "What is Your Center?". If you have not read that, please do so. Otherwise you will have no idea who the main narrator is.

1.

I crossed my arms as I wandered the catwalks, keeping an eye out for a certain mischief maker. Along the way I was stopped a few times by the Shadowbats preparing for Halloween in a month's time. A set rhythm had been made the past few years, so I wasn't needed as much as I used to be. However, I still loved being out in the field for that night, and I still loved to be involved in the plans. I was given the final say on everything new, and everything old was done with precision.

The only thing new that didn't seem to want to cooperate was hiding from me currently, making me more and more agitated. "I swear, if you ran off with him again without telling me…" I felt a presence begin to follow me, and I didn't slow my pace. Instead, I struck up a conversation with a passing bat, my oldest one, Vlad. "How are the preparations going? Are we still on schedule?"

Vlad nodded, hovering on his shadow-hued wings. "So far we will be finished right on time." It started to follow me as I slowed my pace, feeling the presence keep up with ease.

"Good to hear. Have the reapers made the delivery yet?"

He landed on my shoulder to rest for a moment, his orange eyes on me. "Yes Miss Eve. The spirits have been let loose in the far catacombs as per your request."

"All harmless, I hope. I don't need a repeat of the time we almost let Jack the Ripper loose on the streets."

He ducked his furry head a bit below his wings, his large ears falling flat. "Ah, yes. After that mishap the screening process has become more thorough."

"Good." I stopped completely, my fingertips pressed together. "That is all for now."

He nodded and flew off to the catacombs, were I had moved my workstation almost a decade ago.

I stood, staring at the glittering iron globe in front of me. His globe. As always, the lights remained solid, never changing. The presence from before came ever closer. I grinned. I sidestepped out of the way and gripped on to something around the middle as it became solid again. "Good try, Drago. You still have some practicing to do to mask your energy, though."

The black-haired boy went limp in my arms and glared back at me with pale eyes. "But Mom, I swear I can do it! Let me try again."

"I don't think so." I set him down, brushing his shaggy hair out of his ashen face. "It's almost dawn. Time for bed."

"But—"

"No buts." I turned him around by his shoulders and sent him on his way. "And no more shadow stalking. Straight to bed. I mean it this time."

"Oh let the boy have a little fun."

I looked up to see Pitch leaning on the wall of one of the higher catwalks, an amused smirk on his face. "You send him off then, Dad."

He shrugged and sunk into the shadows, reappearing under Drago. He pulled the child on his shoulders while the kid laughed in delight. "You heard your mother."

"But I can do it, honest!"

"You'll get it right eventually. Though we should be off before she flays us both."

I raised a brow at his teasing words. "Don't think I won't." He knew how stressed I would get so close to October, and so the ass would use it to his advantage to rile me up whenever he got the chance.

Without another word to me he turned, taking our son up the catwalks to his room. The whole thing was hard to adjust to at first, but we found ways to make it work. Everything had been easier with the production of more Nightmares and more Shadowbats with the fear toxin imbued in them. We still didn't trust everything in the hands of our creations though, and found time to both be in the field. Drago accompanied us every so often. He wanted to learn how to scare children like us, and he did survive off fear like us.

It had taken a lot of explaining to the others on how Drago even existed in the first place. Ten years ago, Manny had given me one last gift for everything I had done to help the Chosen put Lucifer back in his place. That gift brought Drago into the world.

I jumped as Hessian, my black-furred stallion, appeared next to me, tossing his head and pushing against my mind with his. I put a hand to his green skeletal stained muzzle, eyes narrowed at his anxiousness. "What is it?"

_"The globe is off."_

I looked to the one before me, seeing no change at all. "What do you mean? It's fine." My eyes widened and my stomach dropped. "The other globe." I dropped into the shadows and jumped out into my work station, grabbing on to the desk in my office that overlooked the fear globe. Sure enough, a spot in Pennsylvania was lit up brighter than normal. Something big had happened. "Where is it?"

_"University of Pennsylvania."_

I turned my gaze down and frowned. The university sounded extremely familiar for some reason. "Any idea what caused it?"

_"Nothing so far. Shall I dispatch the 'bats?"_

Before I could answer, a portal opened up beside me and a very angry North emerged. "Nice of you to drop by."

"Don't play games," he said, his swords drawn. "Where is he?"

"Upstairs with his son. He just came back not long ago— Where the hell do you think you're going?" I slipped into the shadows and emerged in front of North as he tried to stalk up the stairs, weapons at the ready.

"He did something. He had to. He's only person with capability to do so."

I was completely confused and dropped my hands. "North, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about this!" he bellowed, pointing his sword at my globe. "He went after Jamie!"

My blood ran cold as it hit me. Jamie, one of the Guardians' favorite pet humans, went to University of Pennsylvania. "What happened?"

"Roommate in school found dead this morning in room. No forced entry. Jamie said he smelled rotten eggs. Brimstone. Of our world. The evil part of our world." He brandished his sword at me. "The boy was cut to shreds."

I went quiet. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I couldn't think of anything to even say. I couldn't believe North would think that, after all these years of peace, Pitch would do something like kill a child.

"It seems I'm needed down here after all." I looked to see Pitch standing in the doorway, Drago at his side. He nudged the boy's shoulder. "Off to bed with you." From his tone, Drago left without a complaint. Pitch watched the boy ascend the stairs, waiting until he knew he was out of earshot before turning back to North, arms folded behind his back. "I thought we were over accusing me of foolish shit years ago."

North merely kept a sword trained on Pitch. "Who else would do such things?"

Pitch curled his lip and brushed the sword away. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't point that thing at me in my own home. I'd hate to have to kill you. What would the children think when Christmas came and went with no Santa Claus?"

I saw the anger flash in North's eyes and I stood between the men, hands held up. "How about we think of this in a different way? As in we're both innocent and something else is out there." I lowered my arms once I was sure they wouldn't attack each other. "You said he smelled brimstone? When?"

"He didn't say. Shaky. He's at Pole now. Only said something else about howling and negative feeling some times."

"Bring him here and call for the others. If it is brimstone, then it is something we need to look in to. Especially if it's going to be targeting humans of any sort." I had a lot of books that focused on this side of our world. Of the monsters and creatures of the undead. If Jamie could give us any more information, we had a better chance of helping him. I caught Pitch's gaze. "If it's alright with the king here."

He swept his arm out in a gesture of dismissal. "Whatever the queen needs. I'd rather not have any… uncomfortable interruptions in the future. Bring the boy to the main chambers."

"You best not try funny business," North said, eyeing the Boogeyman warily.

He shrugged and folded his hands behind his back. "Why is it I try to be compliant, and yet here we are, still at odds?"

I rolled my eyes, looking between their shared glare of hatred. "Please work on the same team again," I tried. "We're not on the good side of the spectrum, but we don't want to see the humans killed. Who would we scare if they started dying off?"

"I can still scare you. So can Drago."

I elbowed his arm. "Not helping." I focused on North as he finally relaxed his weapon. "Well, North?"

He looked between us for a moment before nodding, pulling a snowglobe from his coat. "We will be here in half hour. Stay to your words."


	2. Chapter 2

2.

Having the others over in the lair was something I had never expected. I don't think any of them ever expected to be in it either. It wasn't as joyous and happy as the Pole, and it wasn't even a designated meeting place. However, there they were, looking just as out of place as was physically possible. My Shadowbats provided more information found in reports from the local police station and from the investigation being done on the room. As they returned North and Jamie came through the last portal in the main lair, where we had formed a table with enough chairs for all of us temporarily.

He looked just as terrified as the others, if not more. I couldn't blame him, especially not with Pitch in the same room. It had been well over ten years since the incident in Burgess, but something like that wouldn't be easy to forget. The boy was a young man now, and he would probably carry that fear on through adulthood.

To prevent anything more from happening, Tooth flitted in front of the boy. "Jamie, I know this is hard, but you can trust us all."

He nodded and uncrossed his arms. "I'll tell you all everything I know." He had grown up a lot more than just physical. Most would still be shell-shocked, unable to speak. He took a deep breath and told us everything. "Two weeks ago, I started hearing howling. I just thought a wolf had found its way on campus and was picking through the trash students would leave behind. Only thing was, the howls started sounding like they were coming from right next to me. I'd never hear shuffling, no sounds that would tell me it was close by. I could never see it either.

"A week ago, I started feeling like I was being watched. By more than just the wolf. Any time I felt the presence, the wolf would whine. It hadn't done that up until that point, only howls. That… that night, two days ago, it did both. It kind of sounded sad." He looked to us all, seeing we were all paying close attention. "That's all I can say on what's been going on."

"What of the other boy?" I asked. "Any small detail can help."

"I-I don't know."

"Did you hear anything?" Jack tried. "Smell something, feel, anything at all."

Jamie pressed his lips together in thought, racking his brain for details. "I didn't hear or feel anything. I smelled something though. I just thought it was a strange smell since it didn't last long. It…" He frowned. "It smelled like rotting eggs." He looked to me. "What does it mean?"

Unfortunately, it really was brimstone as North had suspected. "I know that smell. It's brimstone."

"Or just a fart," Jack said. "His roommate could have just let one go before he went to sleep."

I knew what he was trying to do. "Trust me, Jack. I work with ghosts." I walked over to the door that led down into the catacombs, since they were being filled with spirits for the next month. Immediately the air changed, as did the smell. "Did it smell like this?"

Jamie looked fearful and nodded. "What is it? The brimstone, I mean."

I closed the door as one of the spirits attempted to slip through. "Brimstone doesn't always mean a violent spirit. It lingers on the dead, good or bad." I crossed my arms and returned to the center table, right in the middle of the lair. "So that narrows down the problem to a spirit, but of what sort, I'm not sure. It may take some time to research."

Jamie's face held nothing but disappointment. "I see."

Tooth put a hand to his shoulder. "We'll make sure you stay safe."

"I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about the others around me. What if more die before you can find an answer, Hana? Halloween is really close, and there's so much you have to do. You can't possibly have time to look for what this is…"

I bit my lip and looked to Pitch. He nodded. "While Hana is currently busy with October coming up, I can do the needed research while the Guardians do their jobs."

"What of Drago?" Tooth asked.

"I'm sure my son understands the severity of the situation. Don't you, Drago?"

I looked to the stairway, seeing the boy emerge from the shadows, a defeated look on his face. "Yes sir."

I rolled my eyes. I gave up trying to keep him in bed. I motioned for him to come closer and put my hands on his shoulders, keeping him in place. "So there you have it. We'll all make sure no one else is harmed. I'm sure there are things at school you still need to do. And the Guardians should be able to look over you easily. Not many people your age believe anymore, if any at all."

"Just me, my sister, and everyone involved in that," he glanced at Pitch nervously, "incident." He looked back to me. "I wasn't aware you had a son."

"Some things happened." I looked down at the black haired boy. "Drago, this is—"

"Jamie Bennett, twenty years old, and deathly afraid of not losing his virginity until he is out of college." Drago frowned. "What's a virginity?"

I exchanged a horrified glance with Pitch. "Really now, I think you should go upstairs. Far past your bedtime."

"But—"

"Now, child." My tone stated I was through with his games. I let him go and watched him slouch up the stairs. "If I catch you down here again, so help me I will expose you to horrors you can only imagine." His pace picked up significantly. I turned back to Jamie. "I'm so sorry. He's still sorting through his powers. He doesn't know what should be kept private and what shouldn't."

The young man had been blushing the whole time. "It's alright. And that's not—"

"I think it is time we get you home, yes?" North interrupted, pulling a snow globe from his coat. He shook it, muttering, "Burgess," while he did so. Once the portal opened he looked back to us. "Please hurry."

I nodded as the others left through the portal, which closed up immediately after they all entered. I let out a heavy breath and sank into one of the chairs. "What a mess…"

Pitch merely ran his fingers over an open page of the tome on the table, one North had supplied. "Nothing we can't figure out. You've narrowed it down quite a bit. There are only so many forms of creatures that smell of brimstone that can mask their presence."

I rubbed at the dark skin around my glowing eyes. "Well yes, there's that mess. But I mean the one upstairs currently." I motioned to the stairway with my other hand. "What are we going to do with him?"

"It's natural for a young boy to be defiant. Don't take it to heart." He closed the book and moved to stand behind my chair. He ran his fingers over the skin of my exposed shoulders, making me shiver. "He's still discovering his talents. Let him explore his limits. In time, he'll learn from experience what is proper and what is not." He began working a knot out of my neck and I purred in response. "He'll eventually say the wrong thing to the wrong person, and he'll learn from that mistake."

"I don't want him to have to learn from something that could potentially hurt him."

"He'll be hurt in his life. There's no escaping that. The only thing we can do is prepare him for it." His hands started traveling lower under my loose tank, which felt surprisingly good over my skin. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first injury he's received, nor the last. A few good hits to the ego does a growing man good."

I stopped him as he tried creeping lower, a small smile on my face as my hands wrapped around his clothed wrists. "Alright, you win. We'll let him learn on his own." I looked to the book, my smile fading. "What do we do for Jamie?"

"Whatever we can, I suppose. I can't have some schmuck taking over my job, now can I?" He pulled back out of my slack grip. "We'll focus on it in the evening. We should be going to bed."

I frowned but stood from the chair. "I'm not tired at all though."

He gave a mischievous grin over his shoulder, his jagged teeth reflecting whatever light made it down this far. "Who said anything about sleeping?"

I took his arm as he offered it, a sly smile of my own gracing my lips. "Naughty boy."

"You have no idea."


	3. Chapter 3

3

A week went by with very little progress. I even sent Hessian, Onyx, and Bellini out to find more information, but they came back with nothing. It was starting to give me a lot of stress that I didn't need on top of Halloween fast approaching.

Surprisingly enough, it was putting stress on Pitch as well. The first few days I saw him hunched over a few books at the table meant to be temporary. Now he was surrounded by used books, becoming more and more frustrated with every turn of the page. He even snapped at Drago, and I had to explain to the boy that his father was just not to be bothered for the time being.

Once I sent him on his way, I approached Pitch myself, keeping my slight raspy voice soft. "Oogie, take a break, please. You've been at this for days."

"I can't, Hana. You wouldn't understand."

I did, though. The death of that boy was bothering him more than it should have. The entire time he had gone from Kozmotis Pitchiner to Pitch Black, he had done very horrible things, especially to children. Seeing other creatures of the night do what he did would strike a nerve in him. He did care, in his own twisted way. Without beings to scare, we would slowly fade away, like many other icons had throughout the years. The only reason he had lasted so long was the fact fear never dies.

I didn't say a word as I stood behind his chair. I tilted his chin up to look at me, allowing me to see just how tired he really was. His eyes were more sunken than usual. "Oogie, you need to sleep."

"I can't." He tugged out of my grasp, returning his attention to the book.

I suppressed an urge to growl. "I'm ahead of schedule today. Leave your notes and I'll take over."

"Just leave me be, Hana."

He only sent me away when he was really angry. "You're only one man. Don't do this alone."

I backed away as shadow tendrils escaped from his body, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. "I said, leave me be!"

I hadn't seen his shape slip in a very long time. This went far beyond stress, and I needed to get away from him. "As you wish, Pitch." I sank into the shadows, emerging in my own workstation. I found Drago there, helping the Skels with Jack-'O-Lanterns. He had a knack for carving very terrifying faces into the fruit. "What are you working on?" I asked, leaning over the other side of his table. I couldn't see his current work.

He put the tools down, frowning at the pumpkin. "Mommy, does Daddy hate me?"

My heart fell at the question. "Oh, no honey. He's just under a lot of pressure right now to help that young man who was here last week."

"But isn't Dad a bad guy? Aren't we all bad?"

I bit my lip. "Well, in a way, yes. The children need people like us, Drago. They cannot survive off of happiness alone. They need to be scared. They need to be reminded of their mortality. That is what your father does every night. It's what I do every year. And it's what you'll do when you're old enough to be out on your own."

"He has things he's scared of."

"We all do."

"The fears include you."

I wasn't sure what he meant. I watched him pick up the carving knife again. "His greatest fear is being forgotten. That doesn't include me."

Drago shook his head, picking at a pile of salted baked pumpkin seeds. "There's something else he fears. Something he's scared to tell you."

Now I was curious. We had agreed marriage was not for us, and so remained together in a mutual companionship. We had no labels, it was what is was. To us, it was enough. Or so I thought. Was that it?

I wouldn't get to find out as a set of hands rested on my shoulders. "We need to talk."

I didn't look at him. "Drago, go upstairs please. You can finish your pumpkin later."

The boy left the table without a complaint, taking his seeds with him. Pitch sat next to me on the bench, looking genuinely apologetic. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"I know you're stressed. I expect no less from you. I should have backed off."

He looked around the workshop, seeing the Skels and Shadowbats still hard at work. "I still haven't found anything. I didn't think it would be this difficult."

"It's not something you should kill yourself over. Give your eyes a break." I pressed my lips together, still troubled by what Drago had told me. "What is it you fear?"

His eyes narrowed in confusion. "What?"

"Your greatest fear. What is it?"

"Being forgotten, you know this."

I shook my head. "It's apparently something you're too scared to tell me."

His expression went neutral. "Drago's been using his abilities again, hasn't he?"

"He said you have a greater fear. One you can't tell me."

"He's wrong."

He had answered so suddenly, I had trouble believing him. However, I nodded, trying to brush it off as nonsense. "Have you narrowed it down?"

"Every time I get closer to figuring it out, a detail pops up that doesn't fit in." He leaned over the table, rubbing at his eyes in exhaustion.

"I didn't think it would be easy with just you doing the research this time." I got up from the bench and stood behind him. I pulled his coat down a bit to have better access to his neck and shoulders so I could rid him of the knots that had built up over the past few days. "But at least you have it narrowed down more."

"But not figured out."

"It takes time, Oogie. It can't be rushed." I felt him loosen up a bit. "Go rest for awhile. I'll take over. Really, I am ahead of schedule."

He wouldn't have to. The horses returned at that moment, reappearing through the shadows. Hessian came forward first, nickering softly.

"What have you found?"

_"Stories, but they may hold true."_

Pitch looked up. "They found something?"

I nodded, knowing he couldn't hear Hessian, just as I couldn't hear Onyx. "Yeah. Give us a moment. What did you three find?"

_"About thirty-four years ago, there was a serial killer in Frankford. He became known as the Frankford Slasher. His first victim was killed in 1985, and the last woman killed in the same way, associated with the killer, was done in 1990. A suspect was convicted of one murder, but the rest are unsolved still."_ He snorted. _"With how long it's been since the last death, I wouldn't be surprised if the actual murderer had died of old age."_

My eyes widened. "Of course."

"What?"

"I think I've got it." I slipped into the shadows and emerged into the main room. I sat at the table and pulled a specific book towards me. I felt his presence behind me as I frantically flipped through the pages. My heart leapt in my chest as I found the entry I was looking for. "This is it." I handed him the book.

He frowned. "A revenant?"

I nodded. "It has to be. It fits everything."

"You seem to forget I can't hear your horse."

I took the book back. "He said there was a story floating around about a killer that ran rampant in the Frankford area of Pittsburg, thirty-four years ago. That was when the last of the killings happened. The killer could be dead, and now completing his work."

His frown deepened. "I've heard of that one. The Frankford Slasher. He killed only women though. Why change now?"

"Wouldn't you change your M.O. if you were back from the grave?"

"I suppose. But there hasn't been a documented case of a revenant since the 12th century. I've seen them. They're violent messes of creatures."

"Which is perfect for a killer." I closed the book, setting it aside from the others. "As a revenant, he can move silently, never be seen. He can do as he pleases as he couldn't in the physical realm once he kills enough."

He sat next to me, taking the book again. "From what I remember, the things smell foul from the decay of their bodies. That's not what brimstone smells like."

"They smell like decay when they first emerge. After a few killings, absorbing their victims' souls, they would heal. The decay would fade. But, since they're still dead, they would still smell of brimstone."

He put a finger to his lips as he read the page. "So it's killed already."

"Probably quite a few right under our noses." I looked to the side as the horses were approaching. "He's no longer in Frankford, we know this for a fact. Due to that, a few murders could have happened in the past month or so that no one's put together yet."

"Says here they can shapeshift. Into a hound."

I nodded. "So there's the answer. Our problem is a revenant."


	4. Chapter 4

4.

We wanted to be sure we were really dealing with a revenant before we sent word to the others. We went out during the day, taking perch on the roof of Jamie's dorm building. The students below still gave off an essence of fear. I couldn't blame them. One of their own wasn't just brutally murdered. He had been murdered and no trace of a killer could be found. Plus the chilling message left behind didn't help at all. This went beyond a childish prank. This was reality hitting them where it hurt the most.

I almost hated how I found myself feeding off the fear. It had been such a long time since I could be around such a large mass of frightened humans. I couldn't help myself. I shivered as my head went light while I hit my limits and beyond. It was a sort of feeling similar to being high. Everything felt at ease, and I was extremely satiated. I leaned against Pitch's side as he looked out over the campus. "Is it wrong I'm feeding off of the terror?"

He chuckled and I could feel the reverberations easily. "It's in our nature. Don't feel so guilty; I am as well. No sense letting it all go to waste, despite the circumstances."

I propped my boots up on the wall in front of me, finding it surprisingly comfortable while he supported my weight with ease. "What signs are we even looking for? The Guardians said they haven't seen or heard anything."

"Anything that could be off."

"And you think it could be out during the day? Spirits of all sorts are more active at night, you should know this from experience."

I felt him shake his head. "I don't know. Anything at all of the spiritual plane."

The fear high began to get to be too much and I cut off the connection to it. It didn't stop the effects, however. As with any other sort of high, there are side effects. Some get hungry, some philosophical, some catatonic, and some extremely horny. "Oogie?"

"What?"

"When was the last time we had sex on a rooftop?"

He chuckled again. "Two years ago, why?"

I leaned forward just enough to take off my loose orange top. I let it hang loosely in my grasp as I looked back at him. "That is a long time. We should remedy that."

I could see his expression darken in lust, but he seemed to be restraining himself. "At any other point in time I'd have you pressed to that wall and screaming my name. For now, we need to keep to what we promised to do."

I rolled my eyes. "Since when are you so moral?"

"I'm not. I'd rather not have North barge into our home demanding information while I have you in compromising positions."

"I'll hold you to that." I looked out over the campus and let my legs drop from the wall to straddle the stone guard wall we were sitting on, letting the momentum force me forward. "I think that's it."

"What?" He turned around and followed my gaze.

Trotting across campus was a large, shaggy black dog. That normally would have been fine with where the campus was located, except for one thing; no one took notice to the mutt. Humans are usually all the same. If they see a furry creature, they'll drop everything to pet it. No one batted an eye at this thing. It disappeared between two buildings. "Odd." I had spoken too soon. Not a minute later a man emerged, looking around to see if anyone noticed him on the ground. He seemed to be in his late twenties, with dirty blonde short hair and quite a bit of scruff. When he saw no one respond to his presence, he left the safety of the buildings, blending in well with the students. Even his clothes made him look like a student. "So he's either a revenant or a shapeshifter."

"No one seems to be looking at him. Revenant." He stood on the ledge, folding his arms behind his back.

"You're not honestly thinking of fighting him. Not in broad daylight."

"We don't know enough about him to make a move. None of us do. It isn't a matter of where the sun is, it's a matter of rushing to our deaths if we don't learn more. Send a 'bat to the others to let them know who to look for, but to keep their distance for now. Seems we still have a bit of research to do."

I replaced my shirt and did as asked. I sent the 'bat on its way and stood as well. "We should rest while we have the chance if this is going to get worse."

He nodded in agreement and summoned the horses. He summoned a portal that would lead us straight home to sleep. It was one thing I knew we wouldn't be getting much of in the upcoming days.

* * *

Two hours later found me wide awake in bed, unable to sleep for the life of me. Too many things raced through my mind, too many scenarios played out. What if things were to end up like last time, only this one had better aim? What would I do? I couldn't turn off the thoughts. I looked over to his still form, the sheets hanging from his bare hips. I watched his side expand and retract with his shallow breathing, saw the slender muscles in his back moving ever so slightly in the process. I bit my lip. We didn't get many chances to be alone. They had been increasing over the past few years as Drago's dependence on us lessened, but there was still always the possibility he would run in and seek our company. We had also been kept busy by our lives; sex was usually the last thing on our minds.

I had been so preoccupied in my head I didn't notice his breathing change. "You should sleep, Hana."

I hated how he could do that sometimes. "I can't. Too much is on my mind." I chose my words carefully. "Pitch?"

"What is it?"

"Do you think it will be the same as with Lucifer?" I kept my gaze averted as he rolled over to face me. "When he almost… you know."

"Killed me."

"Yes, exactly that."

I looked at him as he propped himself up and shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. From what I could feel, this one's power wasn't even a fraction of Lucifer's. Anything can change though. Revenants are tricky."

I couldn't believe him. "How can you be so nonchalant about this?"

"Because if it happens or if it doesn't, there isn't much that can be done to prevent it. If it does, you need to accept what that means. We've been over this."

I looked to his chest, tracing the contours with my fingers. "I'll tolerate it. I won't accept it."

He stayed silent for a moment, allowing me to trace patterns into his skin for a bit. Without a word he rolled on top of me, letting the sheets fall from both of us. I barely noticed them leave our bodies as he pulled me in to a scorching kiss. From the frantic movement of both our lips, I knew he wouldn't accept such a fate as well, no matter what he said. He said many things to keep up the appearance of the source of fear, as the King of Nightmares. I knew differently, just by his actions.

I ran my legs over his equally bare ones as he trailed his fingers up my thighs, pulling my short nightgown with them. I sighed against his lips as he touched my slit. I wrapped my arms around his neck, entwining my fingers in his hair to keep him from stopping. Normally I only wanted to feel him, same as he wanted to feel me. That night I needed him. I was too frightened I'd lose him. I remembered the pain I felt when I thought I had lost him over ten years ago. I couldn't bear the thought on if it had really happened, and that the attacker hadn't missed. I whimpered into his skin as he varied his finger's strokes, slipping against my clit with every curl of the digits. He moved from my lips to my throat, kissing around my collar.

He respected my wishes to never take it off. It had been a gift from him regardless, to hide the mark of my death. It also showed, in our own way, that he still had some claim to me. Owners collared their pets, after all. I never minded being submissive to him. He was fair, and always gave me a release either before or after himself. He never ordered me to do anything I wasn't comfortable with, and he never embarrassed me. As a master, he was specific to what he wanted, and I carried out his orders as he wanted me to. If I didn't, I was only reprimanded with a sharp tug to the collar, or a slap to my skin. It never hurt. It just gave him the satisfaction of being in control of someone, and at the same time, it let me feel needed. The roles never left the bedroom. I was my own person when we weren't fucking. Something like that was made for privacy, and I didn't mind in the slightest.

My mind went numb as his pace increased. My cries came out in short bursts as my grip in his hair tightened. Even his breathing quickened with mine as his own excitement mounted. He let out a wicked chuckle against my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. "Come for your master, Serah." I loved it when he used my birth name. No one else knew what it was. It was something reserved for only him to say, which made it more dear to me.

My back was arching against his touch but he was relentless. He followed every twitch of my hips, refusing to stop. The pressure was too much. My head was getting so foggy, my throat dry against my cries of pleasure. I couldn't say a word. I could only beg him to not stop with my moans. All at once it snapped. The pleasure building in me burst and I held on to him tightly, trying to find something solid to keep me from going mad. A sharp, high moan left my throat as my body twitched out of my control, but he managed to keep up with me. When I could take no more I nudged his hand away and he knew I had reached my limit for the time being. I had never let myself go like that for any other man, and I never wanted to. He knew everything that made me weak, and I loved it all.

A tug on my collar showed he had formed the shadow lead and he held it tightly in his grasp. I followed his pulls, bringing myself to my knees. "There's a good girl." His eyes were hooded, his face smug. He knew he had power over me. "Your master wants you to return the favor." He gripped a fistful of my hair, avoiding leaning on my small horns. With his grip he forced me down to his hardened shaft. "And don't stop until I tell you to."

I didn't hesitate to pull his cock into my mouth with my tongue, hearing him hiss in pleasure. He must have been sensitive from before with how he jerked his hips against me. I flicked my tongue over where I knew a small bundle of nerves lay. My hands joined in with my mouth, twisting up and down his shaft in a set rhythm. He let out soft hums and moans of pleasure as I stroked him with my hands and tongue. His hips met me in shallow thrusts and his grip on my hair tightened.

His head tilted back and he glanced down at me, a satisfied grin on his face. "That's it, Serah. Suck your master's cock. Mm, just like that."

When his words became harsh and vulgar, it made me wetter, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I liked the rough words just as much as I liked when he fucked me hard. In my own way I rewarded him, gripping on tighter with my hands and making him suck in a sharp breath. I pulled off for a moment just to grin and slide my tongue along his tip. By then one of the straps of my nightdress had fallen, and I didn't care in the slightest to fix it. I wanted more.

He seemed to know what I wanted. "That's enough. Get on your knees."

I did as asked and he pulled my nightdress off of me. If I didn't like it so much, I'm sure he would have ripped it off instead. Once I was as naked as he was, he bent me over and knelt behind me. I let out a sharp gasp as he pushed inside me, my head tilting back to let a moan fly past my lips. I couldn't do this position for very long, and he knew why. If he went too deep, he'd hurt me, and with how frantic his strokes tended to get, it always happened. As I said, he was a respectful master, and never wanted to inflict real harm on me. So, when I asked him to stop, he would stop and switch to something else. For now, I let him press his chest to my back as he gave a few shallow strokes of his hips, kissing the back of my neck around the collar. He gripped on to my hip with one hand and used the other to press against my clit, using it to bring me to my limit again.

That was one thing I loved about the position, for the short amount of time my body could handle it. I loved feeling his weight pressed against my back, feeling how well his body conformed to mine. I choked on a moan as his pace increased as well as his depth. "Call for me. Scream my name."

A swift stroke sent me forward just a bit, making my head light. I almost couldn't handle the pace he had set. Around my moans I managed to do what he wanted. "Kozmotis!"

"That's it." He took both my wrists in one of his hands, the one that had been on my hip. He held them both behind my back, giving him more control over me. "Again. Louder, Serah."

I was screaming by then. The pleasure was too much. "K-Kozmotis!" If anything was going past our door, I didn't care if they heard us. I only cared about the man pressed to my back, and the pleasure he was bringing to us both.

I must have squeezed a bit too hard for him. His thrusts slowed down for a moment and he let out a breathless laugh. "I can't move when you come that hard."

I laughed as well. "I can't help it. You feel too good." His pace picked up again, but I flinched. "I-I can't. It's getting— getting painful."

He slowed his pace again, pressing his lips to my shoulder blades and letting my wrists go. "Lay back then. Let me see you while I take you."

Once he slipped out I laid down, rolling over under him. He tried slipping back in, but it wouldn't budge. I used his shoulders to sit up with him and bent back down, running my tongue over his firm shaft. I made sure to make him good and slick before laying back down for him. He tried again, this time more successful. I sighed into his shoulder as he filled me up, and he did the same with how tight I had become. The lead vanished, letting me know he was through being in control. It didn't stop him from taking me as hard as he could, just as we both liked. My nails took purchase in his back as another climax hit me hard, made more intense as he continued thrusting against me.

He hissed as I tore through his skin, though he grinned instead of flinched. "Again."

I had no trouble complying as he gripped on to my thighs, holding them up a bit so he could slide deeper in. My nails dug trenches in his skin while I bit into his throat, feeling him shiver in pleasure. If I could make him bleed, or leave him with bruises, I had done my job. It wasn't fair that he didn't bruise as easily as I, but that didn't stop me from trying. He preferred it when I did. It only meant he had made me feel so good I had to do something. And I think he secretly liked having a love bite exposed on his throat every now and again. My body went rigid and I cried out into his flesh as I came again, hearing him let out a shaky moan. He was getting close. There was nothing I could do about it though. By then, my climaxes were increasing. As soon as one faded, another would take its place.

My nails raked down his shoulder blades as I bit down harder, tasting the salt of his sweat on his skin from his exertion. His pace seemed to waver for only a second before he kept going, unable to go any slower. His teeth clenched as his release came closer. I wasn't surprised when I felt the skin of his throat give way, and a small bit of copper-tinged liquid met my tongue. Instead of flinching he only moaned louder, increasing his grip on my thighs. The sounds he was making were too erotic, too sexy for me to handle. Knowing he was letting go of all his inhibitions only to me was empowering. "F-fuck, I'm coming..." He claimed my lips with his, sucking a sharp breath through his nose as he left me and I felt his hot seed spill on my belly. We both breathed heavily through our noses, refusing to part just yet. When he was finally spent he pulled back, holding himself up on his arm.

I bit my lip as I saw his neck. "I didn't mean to bite that hard."

He frowned and put a hand to the wound. When he looked at the bit of blood, he shrugged. "Things happen." He got off the bed and went to look for something to clean off with in the bathroom that had been constructed ten years ago due to how spoiled I had become from hot water. In the process I was given a good look at his back. I had done quite a bit of damage there as well as I saw the bloody gashes, and he'd be feeling it soon enough when he laid back down. He came back, tossing a towel to me as he sat on the mattress. "I won't die. Not that easily, you know," he said, his back turned to me as I wiped off my stomach.

"I know. It doesn't stop me from worrying." I tossed the cloth to the floor and sat behind him, wrapping my legs around his hips and putting my arms on his shoulders. "It's my job to worry about you," I said as he put his hands to my legs, holding me in place. "Who else will if I don't?"

"You shouldn't have to."

"So you're saying you don't worry about me?"

"I do but—"

I scoffed and leaned my head to the base of his neck. "It's no different. It shows you give a damn about someone other than yourself." I closed my eyes as he began rubbing small circles in my legs. It always put me at ease for some reason.

"You shouldn't worry about me for different reasons. I can't say why."

I frowned and looked up, even though I couldn't see his face. "What do you mean?"

"Trust me when I say you'd hate me if I said why."

Now it really worried me. "Pitch, you're making me nervous."

"Forget I said anything." He removed my limbs and got up, looking for the pants he had tossed aside before we went to bed.

"You can't just—"

His shadow tendrils rose up from his back as his eyes went cold. "I said to forget it."

I kept my mouth shut as he got dressed again. It must have been something awful if he didn't want to tell me. What could he possibly mean by I'd hate him? I never hated him. Even when he beat me over a century ago due to his frustrations I never hated him.

"I'm going for a walk. Don't follow me." He pulled his coat on and sank in the shadows, disappearing to who knows where.

My heart refused to calm down. I wouldn't be able to sleep at all after that. "What did he mean…?" I put my nightgown back on and found my black robe and the panties that had been thrown aside earlier that morning. For a lack of anything better to occupy my time, I thought I'd go check on my son.

That was the worst decision I had ever made in my life. And it almost ended my and Pitch's relationship for good.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

I took my time wandering the catwalks. I wasn't really in a rush to go anywhere. I chanced a glance at his globe, still lit up as it had been for a long time. I wondered if my globe had returned to normal. With the amount of fear I had absorbed today, I doubted it. The lights may have died down, but there was no way they would have returned to how they looked before.

I pulled my robe closer to my body, frowning as I saw light coming from Drago's room. The boy should have been asleep for another few hours yet. I lightly rapped on the door and opened it, seeing him sitting up in his bed, his knees pulled to his chest and his head resting on his arms. I couldn't read his expression, even in the lamplight. "Drago? Why are you awake?"

The boy only continued to look ahead. "I felt a strong surge of fear," he answered. "It woke me up. It took a minute, but I figured out who it was." He looked to me then. "Is Daddy alright?"

I went and sat on his bed. "I don't know." I looked down at my hands, finding myself wringing them subconsciously. "Drago. I need you to tell me what he's hiding."

The boy shook his head. "He'll be mad at me. I don't want him angry. He's scary when he's mad."

He didn't have to tell me twice. I knew firsthand how terrifying the Boogeyman could be when pushed to his limits. "This is something I need to know."

"You'll be angry too."

I frowned. "At you? Why would I ever be angry with you?"

He went quiet, looking at the far wall again.

"Drago, has your father been unfaithful?"

"No. That's not it. He loves you; I know that even though he never says it."

I was beginning to get more and more frustrated. What on earth could have been so horrible that he was terrified to tell me? We had been together for the greater portion of four hundred and seventy years. What could have been making him scared now?

Drago frowned. "Now you're getting scared."

I nodded. "Please. What has he been hiding?"

He took a shaky breath and looked at me finally. "You have to promise not to be angry with me."

"I promise."

He put his legs down and clenched his hands together. For such a young boy, he had his moments where I thought he was older and wiser than myself. "It's something he's been fighting with for a long time. Something he regrets with all his heart. I don't understand why he's so scared to tell you though. Daddy started the witch hunts."

I felt my entire being shatter. I almost couldn't breathe.

_"Your death will be an example to all who shun our Lord, Witch." "Put the whore to death!" "Execute the sinner!"_

"Mommy, what's wrong?"

I couldn't see. My chest hurt too much to take in anything besides short bursts. It couldn't be true. It couldn't be. My heart pounded in my ears.

"Oh gods, Hana, I'm so sorry…" I felt arms stronger than Drago's wrap around me. I knew it was him.

I pushed him away, looking at him through the sickening haze. "You… you're the reason I was condemned to death."

His face only held pain, absolute regret. "It was before I knew who you were, before all of this. I'm sorry. I never wanted you to know."

A lump formed in my throat, only allowing a cracked "Why?" to escape.

With the damage already done, he looked away. "The fear. When they faced the noose, their fear was so powerful. I had to."

He had been right. I did hate him. I hated him for everything he had put into motion. I slapped him as hard as I could, the sound resonating in the room. "Stay away from me." I pushed him further away and left the room.

He caught up to me, holding on to my arm. "If I would have known then what I do now, I never would have done what I did. Please, Hana, I'm so sorry."

I wanted to believe him. I couldn't. All the pain came rushing back. My throat felt constricted, my wrists burned.

"Please, Serah."

I tugged out of his grip and pulled at the knot of the well-kept leather around my throat. I threw it at his feet. "You were right. I do hate you. Stay away from me, Kozmotis." I called for Hessian and sank into the shadows. I didn't care where I went. I just needed to be as far away from Italy as possible. I let Hessian go as he pleased as I leaned into his neck, remembering everything I had tried so hard to forget from the village. I had spent such a long time believing it never mattered, but it could never remove the sting of the memories. Before I knew it, Hessian left the Void, putting me in front of Jack.

He looked surprised to see us, just as I was surprised Hessian would lead me to him. "Hana, what happened?"

I choked on the words for a moment, trying to get them to come out. Fresh tears stained my face. "Pitch is the reason I died."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changing up the point of view. This portion needs it. In my defense, he does succumb to all human emotion. Webcomics explain everything.

7.

I could only stand there, feeling weaker than I had in a long time. I should have told her sooner. I should have told her the day I found her. I knelt down and picked up the collar, the skull glaring back at me. When Drago first started showing signs of his abilities, I knew it was only a matter of time before the child let the secret slip. I couldn't be angry at him. He only wanted to help his mother. He didn't know anything about her death. I don't think he even knew she was once human.

I should have been more honest. My stupid pride kept me from doing so. I was one of the most feared beings in the history of the human race. No, I was fear incarnate. I couldn't let something like the love of a woman make me seem weak. I couldn't let it seem as if she had power over me. She did though. More than I care to admit. Seeing her in so much pain… knowing I caused it… I gripped the collar tighter, my nails digging into my palms.

"Daddy?"

I looked to the meek voice, seeing Drago standing in his doorway. I could feel his fear. He was scared I was furious with him. "Come here." It was barely more than a whisper, but he heard it. I outstretched my arm as he came closer. It hurt me that he flinched, thinking I would strike him. I couldn't blame him for being tentative. Instead, I leaned back against the wall and let the child curl up in my lap, letting him cry into my coat. He was scared she would never come back, that he had broken his parents apart. "You're not to blame, Drago."

I let him cry until he had no tears left, all the while staring at the collar. Her voice was a haunting memory in my mind. Life had been very different when I was unsealed on this planet, and it continued to be difficult and strange throughout the years. When I had told Frost in Antarctica that he wasn't the only one to long for a family, I hadn't been lying. Everything I told him that day was true. I wandered the shadows alone for so long, I had forgotten what it felt like to have someone by my side. I had long since forgotten my wife's face, and the only way I could remember my daughter was through the locket I kept on my person at all times.

Hana had changed much of that.

"Why was Mommy so upset?" he said, so low I barely heard him. "What was so important about the witch hunts? What were they?"

I held the collar tighter again. It was time he knew everything. I told him everything up until I was unsealed on Earth, leaving out the part of the Dream Pirating and the possession. "I found new ways to make people scared," I continued as he shifted in my lap. "Not everyone could see me, but many could hear me. I would whisper lies into their ears, spreading fear in any way I could. I came up with a brilliant plan, one that drove most of the humans into a terror that lasted a very long time. I sent whispers that some of their kind could cast enchantments and curses on those that wronged them. I sent them into a panic, letting them believe that witches really existed."

"Why would that upset her?"

"I'm getting to that." I closed my eyes, recalling the details from a very long time ago. "I fed off the fear of the condemned as they faced the noose. There is no fear more sweet than that of a person who knows they are about to die before their time. Sandman tried telling me off for what I was doing, but I didn't see the harm. I wasn't the one killing the condemned. I was only able to feel the effects." I kept my gaze away. "This went on for longer than I'd like to admit. There was once a village very much like the others I had spread the panic to. It was a very Christian village. Everyone praised their Lord every Sunday and prayed to him every night. They believed in the word of the Lord. One woman did not."

"Who?"

"Patience." I resumed my train of thought. "The woman did not believe, and skipped church one day after she failed to get her boyfriend to skip with her. He called her a sinner, a heathen."

"What's a heathen?"

"Someone who does not believe in religion. Her parents believed her to be as well. She left her home and found solace in a bar." I didn't tell him the fine details of what happened in the back room of the bar. He wasn't old enough and it wasn't my place to say. "The next day, she was found by the town governor and stood trial. Her boyfriend had turned her in. Said she was a witch. Another man confirmed it. The woman was sentenced to death by hanging. She had to listen to the gallows being put together as she was left in the prison cell, her wrists bound together by rough rope." I swallowed. "It took fifteen minutes for her to die. The whole time the village cheered for her death. A death… a death that I caused. I was there. I saw it all happen. And… and I saw her come back to life through the Man in the Moon's power."

Drago's eyes widened in understanding.

"You see, I had to take care of her. I had been the cause of her death. I couldn't let her roam around, cold and scared and alone. In return, she tried to give me everything she could that I wanted. She never disappointed me. I just always prayed she would never find out I had started everything she had been violently put to death for."

His grasp on my coat tightened. "I shouldn't have told her. I'm sorry."

"She would have found out eventually. I was going to tell her myself, once I realized you could read a person's fears like I could." I put a hand to my throat, feeling the bumps made from her teeth. I was such a fool.

"Did… did you feed off her fear?"

I couldn't answer. Not verbally. Instead, I only nodded.

"Why?"

"It was a strange time for me. I was powerful. Power, strength, it makes you do things. Things you don't see consequences for. However, there is always something that goes awry." There had been another slipup, one I don't care to recall, where I almost made a town panic when I thought out loud upon seeing a demon in disguise. And the demon had left me broken.

"How long were you with her?"

"Three hundred and seventy years. There was a hundred year break after… after things happened." I looked to the boy, seeing his confused stare. "Don't ever lose sight of what's important to you. That's the only advice I'll give you in regards to that."

"Aren't you losing sight of it now?"

I went quiet, looking down at the collar. I wasn't losing sight of it. I just didn't know how to get it back. Something like this, there is no taking it back. At this point, there were very few outcomes. She could either forgive me, or hate me for the rest of our lives. And I could either sit here and wait for it all to come to me, or I could go find her. I looked up as Onyx appeared beside me, nudging my arm with a soft snort.

I knew what had to be done.

"Drago, go saddle up Bellini. We're going to find your mother."


	7. Chapter 7

7

I knew he was staring at my throat. I didn't have to look at him to know that. The way he kept quiet as he handed me a blanket said it all. I didn't exactly think to put on proper clothes before I left the lair. At least Jack had the decency to not slip peeks, especially now. He had taken me to a cave not far from the pond in Burgess, where he called home. I had found out years ago it was where he fell through the ice and died saving his sister. It was fitting for him to stick around. Maybe he had even found some of his distant family here.

Or maybe Jamie was one of his distant family. I would have chuckled at the thought if I had felt anything at all. I had shut down once I had gotten off Hessian. Everything was gone, only replaced with a dull, persistent ache.

I felt him get closer, sitting right beside me. "Hana, what happened?" He kept quiet, and I knew he was still taking glances at my scarred neck. Not many people had seen the aftereffects of the rope. Only Tia, Hessian, and… and him had ever seen.

Why the horse had taken me to see the man Pitch despised most was beyond me, but at that time I needed someone. Anyone, really. I didn't know what to do. Before I knew it I was crying again, but he did what any nice man would do and just held me, letting me cry. I wasn't sure when the sun had set outside, but when the tears finally stopped I could hear the crickets mingled in with the flow of the water. Jack had stayed silent the whole time, only offering the comfort of another body. With his feelings from the past, he was probably too hesitant to do more, and I was grateful for it.

When I finally calmed down, he tried again. "What happened?"

I told him everything. All the details from even a hundred years ago. And honestly? It felt good to tell someone. I was too confused, too angry to do much else besides talk it out.

He listened closely, taking in everything I said. It took awhile, but when I finally got to the end he let me sit back up, giving me some space. I felt heat return that I hadn't even noticed left me due to the blanket. I had forgotten he could only chill everything he touched. The frost on the blanket proved that. "You have to remember, he's… a complicated guy."

I hadn't been expecting that. Jack took any excuse to make snide remarks about Pitch. Especially after what he had confessed ten years ago. Truthfully I hadn't spent much time around Jack, so I had no idea if anything had changed. With what he said, it seemed it did.

"He was terrified of being alone and forgotten. He was afraid of losing everything he was and is. I can relate to it." He cast his gaze around and stood, wandering around looking for something. "Drago said he regretted it, didn't he?"

"Well, yes, but… I don't know." I pulled the blanket tighter, looking down at the ground. "What if you were told your sister purposefully stood on that cracking ice, knowing you'd save her, knowing you'd drown?"

He paused in picking up stray sticks. "I'd be furious, of course, but if she had reasons…" He resumed his hunt. "Hana, he is a lot more complex than that. I can't begin to tell you how or why; you'd know more than I would what he went through his whole life. It doesn't sound like he targeted only you." He collected a small bundle under his arm. "I was alive as the witch hunting continued. Even after you died it kept going."

I knew that much. Pitch had a very powerful sense of persuasion, I knew that firsthand. I shifted on the ground, feeling the bruises on my thighs from earlier protesting the movement.

"They were started far before you were born as well." He knelt in the center of the cave, putting the sticks together carefully. "You both feed off fear, don't you? Isn't it how you survive?"

I nodded, absentmindedly stroking the bruises under the blanket.

"Can you argue that there is no greater fear than death?"

I shook my head, my anger fading a miniscule amount. Everything Jack said made sense. And Pitch's expression had shown he was truly upset at what he had done in the past. Could I blame him for taking advantage of the plans he had set in motion? Of course not. I myself would have done the same thing in his situation. But, could I forgive him? That was the true question. I looked up as I felt a flare of heat and saw Jack had built a fire. He didn't need one, and I appreciated his kindness. "I don't know what to do."

He sat next to me again, keeping his sight on the fire. "Would you really want to keep living a life where your people, your family cast you out? Where you were thought to be a witch just because you didn't believe in their god?"

I had never thought of the alternative. If there were no such things as witch hunts, if I hadn't have died, I would have continued living a life of misery. My parents would have disowned me for having a non-believer for a daughter. Paul would have left me for not being a good Christian woman who wanted to wait until marriage. The townsfolk would have cast me out for not attending church, for not joining in prayer and song.

In the long run, Pitch had saved me from a life of desolation. In his own way, he had inadvertently given me a new life. A better life. A family that didn't give a damn what I did. Not anymore, at least. A man who loved me and accepted me for who I was. In the screwiest way possible, my death was the true start of my life.

Hessian perked up from where he had been laying behind me, his soft, glowing green eyes set on the entrance of the cave. Jack narrowed his eyes and followed Hessian's focus. "What is it?"

Hessian only snorted and got to his hooves, standing guard in front of the cave.

I frowned. "Hessian?" Immediately following I heard a sharp, reverberating cry that was all too familiar. Hessian stood his ground as something landed outside.

And then I heard and all-too familiar irritated growl. "Stand aside, Hessian. I'm in no mood to play your games."

Hessian only met Pitch's glare and snorted at him, refusing to move.

I scrambled to my feet and put my hands to his strong, skeletal patterned flank. "It's alright. I-I can take it from here." I held the blanket tighter over my shoulders as Hessian looked back to me.

_"I can bite him if you wish."_

"No. Really, it's fine."

With one last reproachful snort to the man before him, he left the entrance of the cave, standing by the rest of his family and nickering softly.

Jack stood beside me, seeing the others. "I'll keep Drago busy." With a leap helped by Wind he landed by the others, and I could hear Drago's excited voice from where I was. He enjoyed spending time with Jack. I never questioned it.

I realized how quiet it had gotten, how thick the tension rose. My heart hammered against my chest and I turned, unable to look at him. "Why did you come looking for me? I told you to stay away from me."

"I needed you to understand how sorry I am this all happened."

I returned to the fire, keeping the blanket around my shoulders. My heart screamed at me to forgive him, to let it all pass by as a misunderstanding. My mind said otherwise, even though I had admitted to myself this life was preferable to that of a mortal. I wasn't ready to forgive him so easily for keeping this from me for almost five hundred years.

He sat next to me, leaning back against the wall of the cave. "I know you're angry with me. But please, listen to me at least. If you still don't want anything to do with me, I'll leave, and I'll leave Drago here with you."

I kept my gaze on the flames, listening to the crackling of the sticks. "Does he think I'm mad at him?"

"No. He wishes he never told you though. I wanted to tell you myself."

I couldn't control the rhythm of my heart. It refused to calm down, and it was racing at an almost uncomfortable rate. "Why did you never tell me?"

He was quiet, as if being careful with what he said. I had no idea if he was scared or not. That talent was not one of mine. While I could read the humans, I couldn't read the King of Nightmares. I didn't need it though. I looked to him, surprised to see his hands clenched together, his expression pained. "I never wanted to ruin what we had." He let out a breathy chuckle. "Though I suppose I did after… after all that. When I lost my mind."

I nodded, keeping him in the corner of my eye.

"You have to remember, I was alone for a very long time. Only MiM really was there, and even then, he was just… just a presence. Sanderson came later on, but we never met eye to eye. He represented good things, good thoughts and dreams in everyone, especially children. We were polar opposites, and I was so powerful and cocky I didn't give a damn what he thought. It all wasn't enough. And so, I came up with the idea of witches."

I wanted to feel disgusted, but I couldn't. He was finally being completely honest with me, something I wanted of him for many years now.

"It was the most effective way for me to get my fill of fear without having to lift a finger. I just had to spread the word, and humans believed it. I saw all the trials I had put into motion. Every one of them."

My heart stopped for a second and I stared at him. What was he saying?

"Serah, I watched you die. I-I fed off your fear. That laughter in the woods that night, that was me." He stood and started pacing. He seemed to forget pacing made me nervous. "I was a monster then, I didn't have much remaining of my humanity. Finding you that night though, everything changed. I couldn't leave you out there knowing I caused your death. I couldn't let your rebirth start in so horrible of conditions. I didn't feel as I do now, but I still didn't want to leave you out there.

"Time passed, and you grew on me. I stopped going to the hunts. I didn't need them to remind me of what… what I did to you."

"What you did to me?" I got up, leaving the blanket behind. I held on to his arms to make him stop pacing. "Pitch, you gave me a new life. Yes, it took my death to get it, but…" I tentatively reached up, cupping his face with my hand. He leaned into it like I were a lifeline, holding on to it with his own hand. "But, I wouldn't give up this life for anything. You gave me everything I wanted, and more. You've been a better lover than I had my whole life. You gave me a son, a stable life. I'd rather be with you in my rebirth than live out my mortal life cast out by everyone. You are fear made real. I shouldn't expect any different from you. I love you, and that won't ever change, Kozmotis."

He let out a breath of a laugh, in obvious relief. "I thought you'd hate me forever."

"I did hate you. Until Hessian brought me here, and Jack put everything in perspective."

His laugh cut short and he looked at me in disbelief. "Frost did what?"

"He made me realize what life I would have lived had you never started the hunts. That wasn't the life for me. I'd rather be here, with you, Drago, and everyone else." I looked at his chest. "I'll forgive you, for now. Just, please. Is there anything else you aren't telling me? I don't think my heart can take any more."

"No, there's nothing. I swear it." He pulled me into a tight embrace and I held on to his shoulders. "There's nothing more."

For once in a long time, I believed him. "You know, I am still a little angry with you."

"I know…"

"When we get time alone, I think you need to be punished for what you've done."

I felt a shiver run through him. It wasn't often I tried switching our roles, but he seemed to enjoy it when I did. "I think I do. When we get back, my queen is in command. Whatever you desire." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the collar. "I didn't know if you wanted this back or not."

My hand went to my throat, my fingers slowly trailing over the divots made hundreds of years ago. Even now, as I swallowed, I hated feeling the gouges in my skin. I nodded and turned around, letting him secure it back in place.

A distant howl outside made us freeze and turn our attention to the entrance of the cave. I had almost forgotten about the revenant entirely. However, it didn't seem like it forgot about its intended target. A shout shortly followed, making my blood run cold. "It's Jamie. He's in trouble."


	8. Chapter 8

8.

Running through the woods in a nightdress, a loose robe, and no slippers would have been a horrible idea if I had the time to care then. We managed to catch up to Jack, who stopped the horses for us.

"What was that?" he asked.

I took a few steadying breaths. "The howling, it's a sign of a revenant. That shout was Jamie's."

Jack's eyes widened instantly and he turned his gaze to the forest. "We have to find him."

I nodded and Hessian materialized beneath me to save me the trouble of hopping in his saddle and for sure giving everyone a show. So far as I knew, that was something only one person out of all of us wanted to see, though not out here with people. Especially not Jack. I secured the robe closed as the nightdress rode up my thighs. After that night, if I ever left the lair angry, I always put on pants. Pitch mounted Onyx and Drago urged Bellini on while Jack kept up with us using Wind's help.

"I thought the boy was back in school," Pitch added as the horses managed to weave around fallen branches and deep holes.

"He came back for the weekend," Jack answered.

The horses stopped short and almost bucked us off as someone darted in front of us and vanished between the trees again, panting and completely out of breath. After a moment, a head filled with shaggy brown hair popped out of a bush, eyes wide in fear. "Hi guys, sorry I can't talk, being chased by a pack of dogs and a crazy person!"

Jack grabbed him by the back of his jacket. "Slow down there. What's going on?" The howls rose up again, chillingly close.

"We need to get him out of here," Pitch said, looking around for the source of noise. He opened a portal for us and we each shot through, returning to the lair in Italy to get the dogs off Jamie's scent.

* * *

I joined them in the center room once I had put on my proper clothes again, enjoying the feel of my black and orange stripped tights covering my legs under the shorts. I could hear their voices echo from the top of the catwalks as soon as I left the bedroom. I sank into the shadows and emerged close to the table, surprised to see Drago there. His pale eyes caught mine and he gave an excited smile on his ashen lips. I said nothing and stood with the others as they got the whole story from Jamie.

"It was so weird. He had two dogs trailing a good distance behind him, cowering and whining. The guy was claiming to be a demon that roamed New Orleans at one point. He…" He scrunched up his face in a form of disbelief. "He asked if I liked jazz music. That was when he looked normal yet. Then he takes out this axe from nowhere and tells me 'Such a shame good music isn't appreciated anymore.' I ran then. When I looked back, a huge dog was chasing me. I took a sharp turn and ran into the woods. Thought I could lose him there. Stupid me didn't realize, hey, he's a fucking dog, he can track you!"

I shivered at his mounting fear and cut myself off from it. It didn't feel right to feed from it. Something didn't add up. Jamie said this man had an axe, but his roommate was killed with a knife. Killers didn't tend to switch up their weapon of choice. And why were they targeting Jamie in the first place? The kid had done nothing wrong, had no connections to anything besides all of us, and it wouldn't make sense to kill one little boy, or ruin his life, to get to us. I frowned. There were so many missing pieces yet. However, it wasn't odd that such activity would happen so close to Halloween. There was more to my job than providing elaborate scares for children and adults alike.

The legend of All Hallows varies between cultures, but one lore remains the same. All Hallows is the night where the void between the living and the dead blurs. That's a double edged sword. Sure, there are good spirits that come back, and why shouldn't they say a few things to their loved ones? If their loved ones stop panicking long enough to say hi to Grandma and Grandpa, of course.

Bad things can slip back through as well if the portals are not monitored closely. The reapers are usually good with keeping an eye on the portals every year, but sometimes things do manage to slip through. And sometimes those things are never caught in time. Which always ended badly. The creatures would lose their powers as Halloween would slip farther and farther into the past, but they'd still be around. They'd just end up in a sort of hibernation depending on how much power they exerted while they were roaming the streets, and how long they stayed corporeal. If they stayed corporeal too long, they vanished completely. No soul, no body, nothing. That was it.

Most of the time we were lucky with that, and the spirits weren't smart enough to drop their corporeal selves. But these weren't the normal spooks that slipped through on All Hallow's Eve. These were different. Revenants are zombies that can think. They can speak, feel, and move swiftly amongst the humans as if they never died. The only thing to give them away was their scent. When they first rise, and until they make a few kills, they smelled putrid, of rotting flesh and bone depending on how long they had been dead to begin with. When they killed, they absorbed their victims' souls. In that sense, they took on the life essence of those they killed. The younger they were, the more they would be rejuvenated. They would take on the specific skills of the person as well. Say one was a good athlete. Well, the revenant would suddenly be able to pole vault. Devour enough of those souls, and it could leap tall buildings in a single bound better than that atrocious Superman. And, devour enough souls, and it would be hard to tell that just a few kills ago their skin and sinew was hanging off their bones and sloughing off in the grass. The smell would dissipate to that of brimstone, very faintly.

The good news was that if a revenant succeeded in what it came back to life for, it would fade away again for good. Say they were murdered in a violent manner. Take for example the character Eric Draven, more commonly known as The Crow. He's the best example of a, I suppose you could say, good revenant. He took his vengeance, killed who he needed to kill, and once his battle was over, he went back to his grave to be with his fiancé. Unfortunately, unfinished business can mean anything to anyone. From what we were seeing now, these two revenants were looking to complete their tasks. Who they were and what they were after exactly, we had no idea. We didn't even know if there were only two of them. It was just stranger that they were roaming the streets now, and not starting their hunting on All Hallows Eve.

They had someone helping them.

I looked to the others as they started speaking again. It was strange seeing the two self-stated rivals working together. The three were discussing what to do, and where Jamie should reside while this thing was taken care of, and while we figured out why they were targeting the young man. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Drago listening to his father intently, absorbing every word. I had to let a smile slip as he adjusted his long black coat back onto his shoulders, underneath the folded collar of his grey thin sweater shirt. The dark circles around his eyes only seemed darker as his pale eyes watched the men talk. My smile fell as I realized what he was listening for. He wanted to help in any way he could.

Over the years I had become a protective mother. Something I never thought I would have. There were times where I would forbid Drago from something, only to have Pitch of all people tell me to ease off. He told me Drago was his son as well, and that I was being too harsh on the boy. I needed to let him experience life for himself to learn anything. I had to realize the boy would be hurt in his life. There was no avoiding it. Being the son of the Boogeyman and the Spirit of Halloween would bring a deadly life for him.

And, as young as he was, he seemed to accept that fate. A lot more maturely than I would have given him credit for.

"So then I'll stay here."

I looked to the men as Jack nodded. "The hounds can't track you here. You're on a different continent entirely. Unless these things can take the shape of a bat, you should be fine." He looked to Pitch. "They can't, can they?"

The Boogeyman shook his head. "No. Just hounds." He glanced at me. "I will go back to Burgess and see what I can find. You stay here and see to it that he settles in well."

"Dad?" Drago's voice was quiet, as if still unsure if he should continue as his father looked to him. "Can I come with you? I promise to stay out of the way."

I wanted to immediately shout that it was too dangerous. That I would not send my baby into a potential warzone, but I bit my tongue. Even when Pitch glanced my way to see what I thought, I said nothing. I only nodded. "The moment I say to get out of there, you leave. Is that understood?" he said.

The child's expression brightened as he got out of his chair. "Yes, sir." He sank into the shadows, most likely to go find Bellini.

I barely noticed Pitch's presence standing next to me. "I won't take him if you don't want me to."

I shook my head at his dropped voice as he didn't look at me. "Let him see firsthand the horrors of the world. You've said it yourself. He will not learn if he is not exposed to the life." I noticed I was rubbing my arms in my subconscious nervous habit. I gripped my arms while I looked to him out of the corner of my eye and smirked. I nudged his hip with mine "Besides, he has his big, strong, daddy there to protect him."

"I'll make sure he stays in one piece, at least."

"Where should I take Jamie?"

"You could take him to your workshop and give him a heart attack with your skeletons, bats and spirits."

"Ah, I wouldn't think that such a good idea. Not when we're supposed to be protecting him from murderous revenants."

"Shove him in a mud pit then."

I pushed his shoulder. "Behave. Besides, you know for a fact I like those pits."

He seemed to remember exactly what I was referring to. There were plenty of times we would escape to the warm natural pits. It wasn't the cleanest thing ever, but from what I understood, humans paid good money to do what we had access to every day. Was good for the skin, from what I heard. And a very good excuse to spend ample amounts of time clearing each other of every spec of mud while under the falls that ran through the lair, or in the shower in our room with quick access to the bed. "Shove him in a cage. I honestly don't care so long as he stays away from our room."

I grabbed his arm as he tried walking away. "Just… don't let Jack get killed if the situation arises. I know you still hate him but…"

"But Drago likes him for some reason, I know," he said with a curled lip while Drago emerged from below with Bellini, both him and the green-stained black mare excited to go out into danger.

I tightened my grip, making him look at me. "And, you owe him now. I would have never forgiven you if he hadn't set my mind straight."

He seemed to succumb to defeat a slight bit and sighed. "Very well. I won't leave him for dog scraps."

I let him leave then without another word. We weren't the type for sappy partings and warnings to be careful. It wasn't necessary after almost four hundred and seventy years. I knew he'd come back, either in one piece or battered and bruised. He always found some way back, even when I believed him dead. I watched as he swung into Onyx's saddle and opened a portal. I felt a sudden lump form in my throat as I watched Drago's giddy face look back at me. When had the child grown up on me?

In an instant they were all gone, and the portal closed behind them, leaving me alone with Jamie. I looked to the young man, and he looked back at me. I cracked a grin. "How would you like to see how Halloween is made?"


	9. Chapter 9

9.

I stopped the boy before he could enter the workshop below in the catacombs. "Before you go in there, you need to swear you won't flip out."

Jamie seemed nervous. "Why would I flip out?"

"You've seen elves, yetis, giant stone eggs, little eggs with feet, tiny tooth fairies, and Sandy's creations, as well as Pitch's Nightmares. Well, that's fine and all, but you need to understand there are more things out there, things that do bite back if they need to."

He visibly gulped and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Loosen up, Jamie, I said if they need to. Just don't take anything from them and nothing will happen." I fell serious again. "I need you to swear it. There are skeletons, shadow creatures, ghosts, and reapers running about in there. Hearing about it and seeing it are two different things. What is your reaction to that knowledge now?"

"A-a little thrown off knowing they do exist. Having a hard time believing though."

I smirked. "Oh child, you have no idea." I unlocked the latch and opened the door, ushering him inside. I quickly closed the door behind us, letting the hall become so dark I couldn't see my hand pressed up against my nose. "Up against that wall there should be an old torch." I heard his hand slide on the rough stone walls, and then the clunking of wood tapping on stone. "Good boy. Now hand it here. Follow my voice, come on—there you go." I took the torch from him and, with a bit of old magic, lit it on fire. Immediately the heat surrounded us and light shot up against the walls, revealing a narrow stairwell. "Since we can dip into the shadows, we don't really use the corridors. So trust me when I say watch your step."

I took the lead while Jamie followed closely behind me. It was a good thing I had cut myself off from his fear. I probably would have been able to satiate myself well off his fear alone. However, when I was in a fear high, it was, ah, usually a good idea that Pitch be around. Otherwise problems arose that I would have to deal with on my own, and that was never as much fun.

The noise of the workshop grew louder as we reached the end of the narrow stairwell, emerging into a dimly light area below the main room of the lair. Almost immediately I felt Jamie grasping on to my loose shirt. "This is Halloween, child. Welcome to my home."

He had to duck as a Shadowbat flew overhead, and sidestep out of the way of a Skel pushing a cart of carved pumpkins. "This is— Oh God, this is real?"

I arched a brow at him, crossing my arms behind my back. "What did you expect? Cute little black kittens?" I looked back as I felt at boney tap on my shoulder, but not before I saw Jamie's look of absolute horror. Behind me was a skeleton with some sinew still keeping him together, and still keeping a blue eye in. His jaw was also hanging on by a few strands of flesh still. "What is it, Mason?"

"Since you're down here, I wanted to know what you thought of a new idea," he said, his hanging jaw not moving as he spoke.

"Alright, let's hear it."

"What if we sent out Changelings this year? Give the parents such a fright." His boney fingers pressed together giddily as he cackled. "Can you imagine the expressions on their faces when they realize that their good children were replaced by wicked little demons?"

I frowned. "Mason, I'm surprised at you. Do you not realize the children would be eaten in the process?"

The equivalent of a frown formed with the hanging jaw. "Oh yes. My apologies."

I looked behind him as the specter of the Headless Horsemen paced, getting antsy. The soldier always showed up early for no reason, and then grew irritable with being stuck in the catacombs until I let them out. I think it was more to build up his frustrations and make him more terrifying in that small Sleepy Hollow. I snapped my fingers, a great idea hitting me. "What about the dullahans? I'm sure we've got quite a few of those wandering the war section of the catacombs."

"Yes Miss Eve, lots."

"Send them out to the cities, towns, and countrysides known for raising horses or have a history with horses."

He bowed. "Right away Miss Eve."

I watched the Skel walk off, shaking a fists at a Shadowbat that knocked into him, sending his jaw flying off then. His disembodied voice shouted out curses. Jamie stood by me, a gaze of pure curiosity gracing his face. "Dullahans?"

I gestured to the Horseman. "Something like him, though the horses were also decapitated. They're mainly from Irish lore, but I think Americans should have a taste of the spirits."

"What do they do?"

"If they pass you, they'll either blind one of your eyes or dump a bucket of blood on you. If they stop by you or call your name, you will be killed by him." I looked to Jamie as his face shifted to that of dread and I laughed again. "Don't think I'll send out the vicious ones. Wouldn't dream of it."

"You… but you're in charge of a day dedicated to scary things and dead things."

I held up a finger, pointing it at him. "Yes, but not death. She's an entirely different piece of work." I twirled that finger around my head. "She's a little crazy." I looked around, seeing no reapers around me. I gestured to Jamie, having him stoop down a bit. "Don't let the reapers hear that though, they do still work for her. Her and I have a mutual agreement."

"Which is?"

"She supplies me with spirits and reapers every Halloween and I don't kill her for trying to sleep with Pitch." I shrugged and turned around. "Not that she'd succeed, but still it was the fact she tried."

"What do you see in that guy anyway? From everything I know about him, he's not that nice of a guy."

I paused in taking a step forward. I didn't look back to him. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

I looked on as a spirit passed by in front of me, rushing, actually, to scoop a female spirit into his arms. Apparently they had died at different times and could not find each other until this point. I gleaned that much from the sounds of excitement and of relief. "He saved my life a very long time ago. Things… things happened."

"Like Drago?"

"Drago's existence was never possible up until slightly over a decade ago." I nodded my head, indicating I wanted to keep going with the tour. "I had died, like Jack had. My internal organs, besides my heart and brain, they didn't work. Pitch, he never died."

"How is he the way he is then?"

"That story is not mine to tell. However, he never died. He came from a different world and was changed from a good man, to one that was a shell of his former self, possessed by evil spirits called Fearlings. Due to that, he still has more internal functions than I do. He can eat if he so chooses to eat real food. He only prefers to feed off fear since it is an easier solution. I can't eat. There's no way to digest anything. However, eleven years ago, my cycles began again."

"Eleven years ago…" I could almost hear him thinking. "That was when you all fought Lucifer, wasn't it?"

"Exactly right." I nodded. "Manny gave me a gift for cooperating with the Guardians. In essence, he gave the Boogeyman a gift as well. I think it shows he isn't bitter about the past. Again, not a story that I can tell." I navigated around a table of Skels training spiders. I shrugged. "It's been a very strange decade, but it's been interesting at least."

"Wait, so why was Death interested in Pitch? Haven't you guys been together, like, forever and a half now?"

"Ah, well, there was a century where we were split up. We had our reasons. Apparently he had a drunken fling after I left that wasn't serious. She took it serious though." I shrugged. "Once I found out she had attempted anything after we started seeing each other again, I found her while she was working and beat her within an inch of her own life." I flinched. "Not something I'm exceptionally proud of. Don't mention it to Drago. I'd rather not be a poor example for the boy. And it's not like I came out unscathed, I was pretty screwed up too." He still looked a bit skeptical. "She tried drugging him at a holiday party. Cupid did a stupid thing and gave her an aphrodisiac. If it were anything else I would have just laughed it off, but that was something else entirely."

Jamie shook his head as his expression changed to a certain understanding. He still looked around at all the decorations and things being put together in the chambers. "If that's the case, I'm not judging."

I turned back to him, arms outspread, willing to change the topic. "So, what do you think?"

He let out a grin. "No mummies?"

I scoffed. "What do I look like, an Egyptian grave robber? No, I don't do mummies. I don't house vampires, and I don't keep werewolves. I especially don't do werewolves. Too messy. Those three are on their own for Halloween. They keep in line enough, but I intervene if they go too far." I folded my arms. "So that's basically it. My Skels and Shadowbats keep everything in line pretty much all year long. It's been a good reprieve over the years trying to raise a little boy, but I'm getting back into it gradually not that he doesn't need as much attention." I saw his expression change slightly. "Jamie?"

He merely raised a shaking finger, pointing over my shoulder.

I looked and sighed a bit in relief. "Camen. What a lovely surprise. Do we have enough souls for our night?"

The reaper nodded, his glowing orange eyes shining from beneath his heavy shroud. "Yes, Miss Eve. And Lady Death sends her deepest apologies that this batch isn't the best she could get this week. She will try again next week."

I waved a hand in front of my face. "No worries. I'm sure we're fine enough as it is. "Thank you, Camen."

The reaper nodded again and glided away. I saw Jamie looking to the empty space between the ragged edge of the shroud and the ground. That, and the skeletally thin hands hanging from the cloth. "How would you like to carve a pumpkin, Jamie?"

He nodded. "Sounds good."

I led him to the far table where a few pumpkins were waiting to be carved. I frowned as I saw Drago's still sitting there. "Strange. He should have finished this."

"Who?"

"Drago. He was working on something a day or so ago. I had to send him out of the workshop before he could finish." I shrugged and sat Jamie down in front of a pumpkin still needing to be carved. "You know how to do this, right? Gut it and then carve it?"

He nodded. "That, and cut the top at an angle. Not my first pumpkin," he added with a sheepish grin.

I returned it. I could see why the Guardians had kept him as a pet for so long. He was easy to get along with, and accepted much that most people wouldn't. Once he had the top opened and began the process of gutting the pumpkin, I went to see what Drago was working on. I paused in my tracks as a shock went through me. Carved in the other side was a knife, an axe, a sword, and a gun, all around a howling dog. I didn't want Jamie to know anything was wrong so I merely covered the pumpkin with a cloth. "Wouldn't want it to wilt too fast," I said with a short chuckle.

Hessian formed out of the shadows, a sharp snort escaping his nose. _"We have a problem."_

I frowned. "What is it?"

_"The globe. It's lighting up again."_

A cold flash of dread washed over me. "Jamie, stay here." I sank into the shadows before he could argue and went into my office, looking at my globe from the viewing window. Sure enough, Pennsylvania was lit up again. "Oh shit…" I looked around for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts. The first clear thought that entered my mind was to grab a crystal from the shelves built into the wall next to me. I placed it in the holder and activated the shadows within it. I pinpointed the source of fear and tapped into the local news.

_"… until the killer can be caught, residents are advised to be indoors before dark, and if they have to venture farther, they should never travel alone. New details have been released dealing with the death of Martha and Thomas Thackery of Burgess, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Thackery had been hacked to death with an axe taken from her garage. There are no signs of forced entry, meaning the victim knew her attacker. Mr. Thackery seemed to be guarding his wife until the last minute. The axe was left behind at the scene of the crime, however there is no evidence linking an outside source to the crime. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Thackery family."_

I looked up at the globe again, seeing the lights pulsing. "An axe… New Orleans… jazz music? What are the connections?" All at once it hit me like a ton of bricks. It had been so obvious. I looked through my shelves for a book of records of all serial killers in America, both solved and unsolved. I looked in the index and turned to the correct place. "Of course…"

Staring back at me was a bold headline from a newspaper article written in 1919. The article had come from a newspaper called the _New Orleans Times-Picayune._ I trailed my fingers over the letter the killer had sent in, exposing himself as a demon who enjoyed the sultry sound of jazz music. He was giving a time and place of when he'd go out and slaughter all those who were not listening to jazz music at the time. Hessian appeared at my side as I tapped the page. "We've got one of them. The Axeman of New Orleans."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV switch

10.

The forest we emerged in was eerily quiet, even from my standpoint. Usually at least crickets and the cicadas were active this late. Tonight, not even they made a peep. Jack rushed ahead, saying he needed to check on someone named Sophie. I couldn't recall any of the children named that, and so didn't question his motives. I dismounted Onyx and I saw Drago follow suit. We sent the horses off on their own, knowing they'd come when called upon. "Why did you want to come with me?" I asked. The question had been eating at my mind. I genuinely was curious as to why the boy would want to jump into such danger.

"I want to help," he answered. "I… I want to make up for what I've done."

I frowned. "What you've—" It hit me that he still blamed himself for earlier. "You've helped more than you're aware of. If that's all you want to be here for, you've done your part."

"No, I also wanted to help Jamie. He seems nice."

I only looked forward as we continued out of the woods. I couldn't agree or disagree with the boy's statement.

"He was scared of you though. I thought he was too old for one of your visits. Or did you scare him when he was a kid?"

I bit my tongue, trying to find the right words that he would understand. It was about time he knew what I was capable of, and what I had done in the past. "When Jamie was a boy, about your age, I attempted to usurp the Guardians."

"What's usurp?"

"Overthrow another's power. In other words, I tried to make the Guardians not be believed in, knowing they'd fade from existence." I held back my surprise as I felt his hand grab mine, his still small fingers grasping on tight.

"Why?"

"There was a very long period of time where I wasn't believed in. Oh I could be heard, I could be seen by a few for awhile, but it wasn't enough. As time passed and the humans started questioning things more, it grew worse. They would pass through me, they wouldn't hear anything I had to say. Parents stopped telling their children stories about me. I had no way of bringing fear to anyone. But then, I discovered a hidden ability."

"What?"

"Sandman's Dreamsand. I could manipulate it into bad dreams, I could invoke fear through a child's most precious and vulnerable moments. Sandman never really noticed when small bits of his Dreamsand went missing, and so I kept up with it for a very long time, gathering an army of Nightmares. When I had enough, I made my stand." I helped him over a fallen tree, making him keep up his pace.

"What happened?"

"Not everything goes according to plan. In the end, I was defeated, but the Guardians still haven't let me forget my attempts."

"But how does that include Jamie?"

"Jamie was the last child in the world to still believe in the Guardians. No matter what I did, he still believed, and due to that, he managed to tip the balance again." I had long since accepted what it all brought me. If I hadn't lost, I wouldn't be right where I was in life. I'd still do it all over again given the chance, but at least in this way I had gained what I truly wanted. I was believed in again, I was a father again, and I had the only woman in my life again that understood my frustrations. There had been a fling long ago when she had first left, when I was still on my downward spiral. I still hate to admit it, but I did abuse Hana. It was how I coped with things, and she never fought back until the day she left.

So, instead, I did what any normal man would do and got myself completely shitfaced and managed to run into Death as she was making her rounds in Italy. We had one night of less than satisfactory sex, and I sent her on her way. I spent the next hundred years building the army of Nightmares and avoiding Death. I learned the hard way that the saying was true. You should never stick your dick in crazy. The woman to this day has issues, and the only thing keeping her away was her agreement with Hana. I had never known my little Spirit could be so territorial. When she had returned battered and bruised, her clothes a tattered mess, and she told me what she had done, I fucked her right there on the floor of the main chambers.

When I thought about it, the situation made her seem a little crazy too. However, given what had happened in the past, and that she didn't care about anything else I did, I'd let it slide. Given the fact that Death had tried to give me an aphrodisiac at one point while Hana was back in the picture didn't help Death out at all. If a man tried doing that to Hana, I wouldn't simply beat him within an inch of his life. I'd make him suffer.

"Is Mom still mad at you?"

"Probably. For now she seems to be in a forgiving mood." I felt him start to swing our arms back and forth. It made me realize just how young he really was. I felt a surge of sadness pass through me as I remembered the days my daughter would do the same thing when I would return from battles. It was a shame Drago would probably never know he had a half-sister in the world.

"I'm happy for you, Dad. And proud."

I looked at him curiously. "Why say that?"

"Well, think of it. You are what people fear most, and yet you were able to admit you made a mistake to the woman you love and apologized for hurting her. You, the Boogeyman."

"What about it?"

"The fact that you can make human kids wet the bed with just a mean face, and that you were terrified of hurting her, well, it's nice. I'm proud that you can be fear, and yet still have someone you can be weak around."

I almost couldn't believe how mature he sounded. I was always amazed by the gems of wisdom I would get from him. It made me regret nothing in my past, if everything I ever did was to lead me to this moment in time. I held on to his smaller hand tighter. "That means a lot to me, Drago."

He gave me a grin, full of jagged teeth. "And how cool is it that I get to say my parents are the Boogeyman and the Spirit of Halloween?"

I returned his grin. "It's a privilege to live the life you live. None are more worthy to terrify the humans than us." A close-by siren made me go quiet and slow down, holding Drago back. I watched as an ambulance barreled past. Something about the call was sending the paramedics into a panic.

"Something to do with a murder," Drago said, and I looked to see him frown. "Two victims, chopped to pieces with an axe, and the axe was still on the scene." He glanced at me. "What does it mean?"

"An axe…" I mouthed the words on the second round, testing the words in my head. It hit me all at once. "Of course. That's the weapon Jamie said the man pulled on him." I whistled for Onyx and Bellini and the horses appeared under us. "Follow the sirens and keep out of sight of anyone that may see us."

* * *

We managed to keep up with the ambulance with the help of the night. We were able to slip into the house once we left the horses. In hindsight, I should have looked at the scene first. When I heard Drago say chopped to pieces, I hadn't registered… hadn't registered actual pieces. He wasn't ready to see this. I wasn't ready to let him see this. I felt him grip my coat as he stumbled back, almost falling through the shadows as he lost control over his powers temporarily. I gripped on to his arm hard, making him focus on staying solid.

I looked around the room, seeing carnage I hadn't seen in a very long time. Swing patterns marked the walls. Drips lined the floor where the axe had been carried to the other side of the room and left there. "Are you alright?"

I felt him nod and looked down, seeing him gripping my coat still. "I-I can do this."

We remained invisible to the investigators as we looked over the carnage. Now I was glad I had told Hana to remain behind. I don't think she could have tolerated seeing how these people died. I doubt I could have. Some things even I say shouldn't be done. "What the hell are we dealing with?" I muttered.

"I'd like to know too."

My blood froze. I'd recognize that voice anywhere. "I see we meet again, Death," I said, keeping a grip on Drago's shoulder.

A woman in a long black dress hovered in front of us, her black hair held up in a high tail. "Ah, Pitch, it's been too long. I see your… son… is doing well."

I kept my temper neutral. "Yes. We all are doing well. What do you want?"

"I'm here officially, my dear. These souls haven't been reaped yet."

I rolled my eyes. "And you just happened to want to reap these particular souls."

Her bright smile was almost repulsive. "Exactly that. Coincidence, right?" Her smile fell and she bent over the woman, summoning her scythe. "I'm on the trail of something too."

I frowned. "What could you be after? Souls practically come to you."

She tapped the scythe to the woman's heart and started extracting her soul. "Unless they're being stolen. And I don't mean good ones."

"Wait, do you know anything about what did this?"

"Oh I know." She smirked. "But it'll cost you."

I was out of patience and my form slipped. A shadow tendril escaped from my chest and wrapped around her thin throat. "I'm in no mood for your games!" I tightened my grip before I let her fall to the floor. "What did this?"

She held her throat. "The Axeman of New Orleans. Someone has been in my vaults, stealing souls of some of the most dangerous killers in history."

"How many?"

"Seven now. The Axeman, the Frankford Slasher, The Zodiac, Grim Sleeper, Gary Ridgway, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacy." She stood again, straightening out her dress. "I looked. The graves were empty."

I frowned again. "Bundy was cremated."

"Regardless, his soul is missing with the others. I'm finding it logical to assume whatever took the other five took him as well." She gestured to us. "And what are you doing? Some family outing? Where's Hana then?"

"Home. We're mutual in what we're looking for, it would seem. I'm looking in to revenants. Know anything about them?"

Her expression grew to one of sudden realization. "That's bad, Pitch. That means you're dealing with a very powerful necromancer."

"And you're not?"

She grinned. "The more that die, the more I profit. I have no incentive to stop it if that is its goal."

I curled my lip at her. "Is that right? A moment ago you were ready to destroy what stole from you. Now you are supporting it?"

"If the unfinished business of those men is the death of as many victims as they can get, then by all means, the necromancer can keep 'em for all I care." She floated onto her back, balancing on the scythe. "Why would you care about their lives? Wouldn't this be good news for your wife?"

"She's not my wife. And you know that isn't how she wants her souls."

Death merely shrugged and leaned off the scythe. "Not my problem anymore. Have fun." Her giggle outlasted her form, making me angrier. I noticed a growing fear around me, and I realized the paramedics and investigators must have heard her.

I let go of Drago's shoulder and stalked to one of the larger shadows. "We're leaving."

"But Dad, the revenants—"

"Are none of your concern."

"Why are you so scared right now? What is so terrifying about those names?"

I balled my hand into a fist, almost regretting the fact he could pinpoint a person's fear. "Those men were mass murderers, feared for the sheer amount of people of all ages they killed. Now that they're back like this…" I shook my head. "No. You're not getting involved in this."

"But we can't leave Jack."

Damn. I had forgotten about Frost. I had sort of hoped the Axeman had found him. Lingering hatred and all. "Fine." I ushered him out of the house, taking one last gruesome sight back to the scene. A shiver went up my spine. "This is not going to be easy…"


	11. Chapter 11

11.

I leaned against the doorway to my office and watched Jamie work for awhile, holding on to my arms while I tried to figure out what to do. The Axeman was a formidable and deadly man while he was alive and roaming the streets in the early 1900s. If he really was a revenant, one of them, he needed to be caught, and fast. As I said, a person's unfinished business can be anything. They forgot to turn the stove off, they realized they left their car double parked, they didn't kiss their children goodnight. Or, hey, I didn't get to the goal I wanted in kills. The terrifying thing is, despite how many he killed, and the evidence he left behind, he was never captured. I think only Death knew who he truly was, and if I could avoid talking to her at any costs I would.

I chanced a glance back at the globe and had to do a double take. My stomach dropped and I rushed to the window as lights began to shoot up in five other areas in North America. "This can't be right." Northern and Southern California, Florida, Illinois, and Washington were all starting to pulse. "What the fuck is going on?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin as Jamie spoke from next to me. "This isn't like the one upstairs."

I held on to the bar in front of me, trying to steady my hands. "No. No, it's not." I looked closer at the pulses. "I monitor fear while Pitch and North monitor belief."

He seemed to understand why I was upset. "Something's wrong."

I nodded. "I expected your home state, but… but not this." I gestured to the globe. "I know what attacked you."

"I thought you said it was a revenant."

"Yes, but revenants were once people too." I forced myself to look away from the globe. "It should have been obvious from what you told us. He had an axe, he liked jazz music, said he was from New Orleans." Jamie only looked more confused and I sighed. "Right. Way before your time. I keep forgetting you were born in, what, 2004?"

"Yeah."

I wandered over to my desk where the crystal still sat in the holder, and the book lay out with the inside exposed. I pushed it towards him. "The article comes from a newspaper printed in 1919. Read the letter."

He tentatively took the book, getting paler each minute he took to read the letter. "And this madman was never caught?"

"Forensics hasn't been that great. Big advancements were made in what, the early nineties? By then, all his evidence would be reduced to nothing anyway. There's no point in reopening his case, especially with the time that's passed."

"Then what's making the other states light up?"

I shook my head, looking completely defeated. "I don't know. I wish I did. The globe only monitors fear. It doesn't tell me what's caused it." I smacked my forehead between my horns. "This whole thing is making me forget I can do things." I sat in front of the crystal and attempted to pinpoint newsreels from each of the counties. Each one only made the situation more dire. People were being murdered in different ways. Stabbed, strangled, hacked, and shot. By the time I covered all the states, the death count was in the double digits already.

This was not something I needed so close to Halloween. This was not something anyone ever needed. One revenant was bad enough, but if the pulsing lights meant more… If they meant more, we were dealing with seven. I gripped my fingers together to steady them. If that was the case, why target Jamie? Or… I looked to the boy. "Did you witness anything lately? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Not that I can… Wait, there was something." He pointed to me with his index finger, bobbing it as he recollected his thoughts. "Yeah, there was something weird at a frat party I went to two months ago. I drank a bit too much and had to use the bathroom, but they were all either locked or occupied. I went outside to find a tree, and found someone cornering a girl. I managed to shake him off, but not before I saw a flash of goldish light coming from under the hood of his sweater. I didn't think much of it then. Thought I was just drunk and seeing things. Got the girl back inside safely."

Well, that was something indeed. I looked out over the expanse of the workshop, seeing everyone still rushing about to finish their wares. They had three and a half weeks, but that time flew by when things needed to be taken care of. "Sounds like you made a friend."

"So it would seem." He sat on the edge of my desk. "What did I see?"

"Honestly? I don't know. Quite a few things have glowing eyes like that, unless you've forgotten." I pointed to my own.

"You saw a necromancer."

I looked to the far wall, seeing Pitch emerge from the shadows. I narrowed my eyes. "A necromancer? In college? Are they really starting that young now?"

He shrugged and folded his hands behind his back as Drago emerged from the shadows behind him. "Many human habits are starting early. Children are playing… doctor much younger than they used to. Wasn't the youngest father eleven now?"

I rolled my eyes and closed the book. "So you think they're starting necromancy at eleven as well?"

"Why not? Drago's been doing worse for years."

"Our son also has a unique upbringing." I swirled the shadows in the crystal, turning off the newsreels. "How do you know it's a necromancer for sure?"

"Lady Death told us," Drago said.

I knocked the crystal out of its holder in surprise and Jamie had to grab it before it fell from the table. "What brought on an encounter with her?"

I saw Pitch glare at Drago before looking back to me. "We followed a lead and came across a murder scene in Burgess. The Axeman killed again. A couple this time. Death came to reap their souls and find out what was doing the killing. She said something raided her special vault. Seven souls are missing."

My heart stopped for a moment and I looked back to the globe, still pulsing in those five states. "W-which ones?"

"Frankford Slasher, Axeman of New Orleans, The Zodiac Killer, Gary Ridgway, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, and the Grim Sleeper."

I felt my blood run cold and my stomach tried to flip over itself. It was a good thing I was sitting. I don't think my knees would have kept me up. "That's… whoever this person is did their research. Necromancers usually only raise spirits for their bidding, don't they?"

He arched a brow. "And who's to say this one isn't?"

"Don't say that."

Jamie had been looking back and forth between us. "Guys, who are these people?"

I thrust the tome to him. "Do your homework." I glanced back at Pitch. "Where is Jack?"

"He went to tell the others. They should be here any moment in the main hall. They'd like to discuss a plan of action."

I reactivated the shadows in the crystal. "I'll keep an eye on the reports. Maybe I can pinpoint something."

He nodded. "Very well." He motioned for Drago to follow him. "Let's leave your mother in peace." He cast a glance at Jamie. "You too, boy."

Jamie looked up from the tome, looking a little paler already. He nodded. "Y-yeah. I'm coming."

Pitch took the torch next to the entrance stairwell and I watched the light slowly disappear. Once out of sight, I turned my attention back to the crystal, my useless stomach still doing twists. "What is the purpose…?"


	12. Chapter 12

12.

The others had come and gone. North took Jamie back to the Pole with him, and even took Drago with him to keep him occupied while we tried to sort out all the fine details of this strange case. I had tried to go to sleep when they left. I really tried. I couldn't. It was well into the day before I gave up. I slipped out of bed as carefully as I could without waking Pitch and sank into the shadows cast by the fire without bothering to grab my robe. I came out in my workshop in front of the globe. The lights still pulsed just as strong as before, if not stronger. The good news was it hadn't spread. Five of the seven revenants were keeping to their stomping grounds.

I sat in front of the crystal, listening to the newsreels for hours.

"—two more couples have been hacked in their Burgess homes with an axe found at the scene. Investigators are baffled—"

"—two women have been found dead from asphyxiation and have signs of being brutally raped in King County—"

"—tragedy has struck on the Florida State University campus. A sorority house has been broken into and five girls have been beaten to death with various objects. They have also been raped with objects found in their rooms. Thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the—"

On and on it went. I began to feel sick at the body count. The revenants had so far killed thirty people just tonight combined. Reports started coming in, linking more deaths to the patterns in the murders over the past two months.

Almost one hundred and fifty had died. From seven revenants.

"Powers above…" I muttered, rubbing at my eyes. I stopped immediately as faces of the victims passed in front of my vision and I felt an overwhelming sensation of sadness. I almost couldn't breathe for a second as it passed. When it faded, I realized I was gripping the desk so tight I was losing blood flow to the digits. I tried keeping my focus on the crystal again. It was getting to be too much. It was no wonder the reapers had been in short supply for two months.

I worked with ghosts of those who wanted to cause trouble. Scare a few kids, have a few laughs, and then move on. Or, they stuck around to do it for a few decades or so. I never worked with spirits like these, and I never wanted to. Murder wasn't what Halloween was about. Fear, yes, making you think you were going to die, bringing someone to the brink of their sanity, that was what I represented. I didn't want anything to do with this fear. It was a strange sensation. As I've said before, having even a little more than my fill of fear will put me on a sort of high. Pitch was the same way, and Drago was as well. It was just a drawback. Most of the time though, for Pitch and I at least, the fear high was pleasurable. This sort of fear… I've only fed on that sort of terror once, and I swore to never do it again. When I fed that day at the college, the terror had died down. It was a residual fear to the events. It wasn't fresh.

The only time I fed from that type of horror… the only way to describe it was the worse acid trip anyone has ever taken. The fear of all those I fed on mixed into one night terror that lasted a good eight hours. It was when I was first learning how to use my abilities, and when Pitch wasn't interested in me intimately, nor I of him. He had made me suffer through it all. However he didn't let me stay alone. He at least stayed with me the whole time, talking me through it. After that we both agreed that it wasn't something that sat well in my mind. It was nothing I wanted to experience again.

The sights of killings like these sickened me. The victims were all innocent. They'd done nothing wrong. None of them were connected, not that I could find. There wasn't a single person that linked them all together. So why were the revenants attacking them? Was it just random unfortunate circumstances? Or was there a deeper meaning to it all? I held my hands to the side of the crystal, stirring the shadows inside up again to change the reel. I could see my reflection in the curved glass. I couldn't remember the last time I had looked so defeated.

"Hana?"

I didn't even flinch as Pitch appeared out of nowhere, standing behind me.

"What are you doing awake?"

"I couldn't sleep. Not knowing this is still going on. It's still night time there. The revenants are going wild. The death count is in the triple digits now."

His hands rested on my bare arms gently. "I understand you are concerned, but you will go mad if you continue to stare at this thing."

"I-I don't know what else to do." I felt a helpless lump form in my throat and I held my forehead in my hands. "There are no patterns, no special selection in the victims. They're just random and they meet the standards set by the killers in their lives."

"You need to look again with fresh eyes. Come upstairs with me."

"I can't." I knew I was repeating his words from a few days ago, and I was mirroring his attitude. However, he saw through the front I put up.

"I can make it worth your while."

I rolled my eyes. Only he would think of sex in a situation like this. Then again, that sort of fear high didn't give him negative results. From what I knew, it only boosted his sex drive, his carnal desires. "I'm not in the mood, Oogie."

"Mm, then why wear this? You know I can't control myself when you do." He slipped one of the straps of my nightdress down my shoulder, letting him press his lips to the skin.

"Really, I'm not in the mood."

"It wouldn't take much to change that," he muttered into my flesh.

Usually it didn't. Usually if I wasn't in the mood, he only had to insist with that seductive nature of his and I'd eventually give in. I just couldn't. "I'm warning you, Kozmotis. Not today."

I could feel him frown into my shoulder. I only used his birthname either during sex, or when I was angry, furious, or irritated with him. "Hana, there's really nothing more you can do." He stood up straight again and leaned over me, running his hand over the crystal to calm the shadows inside once again. "North and the others are looking in to it. You're supposed to be focusing on Halloween as it is. There's enough you should be stressing about. Don't layer this on."

"I'm tired of doing nothing, Pitch!" I said, standing up so suddenly my chair pushed back into him. I swung around, jabbing his bare chest with my finger. "I am tired of not helping as I should be. We should be out there with the Guardians fighting whatever the hell is killing innocent lives. I shouldn't be stuck here in the lair carving pumpkins while these maniacs carve people." I jabbed him again and he took the mild abuse. He was allowing me to let off some steam. "There are seven revenants out there and only five Guardians. There are two of us. We should be helping them take these fuckers out before the body count triples."

He finally took my wrist in his grasp and I realized I'd been jabbing him with my sharp nails. He gave me a tired expression. Not a smile, not a frown, just… tired. "You win. We'll help them. But first, you will come up to bed with me."

I curled my lip. "Being persistent, aren't you?"

"I won't deny it; you are very fuckable right now in that nightgown, as well as with your angry expression. However that isn't what I meant." He took my face gently in his hands, making me look up at him. "You haven't been sleeping well. Trust me, I know. You've been keeping me up with your dreams."

I cast my gaze away. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Come up with me."

I nodded and followed him through the Void up into our room. I got back into bed, finding the sheets more comfortable this time. Even my pillows felt more inviting.

Once his pants were off again he joined me, but didn't lie down right away. He tossed a ball of black sand in his palm. "If you need it, I will give it to you. With what your thoughts have been like lately, I highly recommend taking it. It will give you a dreamless sleep, so you can try to catch up on what you have been missing for rest."

I gave him a small smile as I pulled the sheets over my shoulders. "And so you can rest through the day as well."

"That too." He gave me a wicked grin. "And I promise I won't do anything to you while you sleep, despite how riled up you've made me."

I pushed at his hip, it being the closest thing in my reach. "You can grab my boobs. Is that a good enough payment?"

"That will do, love. Though I'd rather wait until you're in the mood to react as I want you to."

I held up a finger. "Remember, next time I'm in control. You fucked up big time, mister. I've forgiven you, but I haven't forgotten."

He flinched a bit. "Right." He held out the sand. "What do you say?"

I nodded. "I'll take it." I let him sprinkle the sand over me, and almost immediately I felt the powerful tugs of sleep. I didn't fight it. The last thing I remember of that day was his body curling around mine, making me feel safe, allowing me to almost forget everything in the world..

And then, there was only peaceful darkness. It was a reprieve I was grateful to have.


	13. Chapter 13

13.

When I woke, I had no idea how many hours had passed. The sleep had been dreamless as promised, and it had been just what I needed. Until I remembered why I had been given his Dreamsand in the first place.

I looked over and saw his side empty. I narrowed my eyes, still shaking off the sleep. "Pitch?" No answer came, meaning he wasn't in the room. The fire had burned down some time during the day, and he must have not tended to it. Either that or he had been up for quite some time. I still had no idea what time of night it was regardless.

The silence was broken only by an occasional crackle of a smoldering log in the fireplace. I looked at his side of the red sheets again as I stood next to the bed, still wondering how long I had been alone. I let the nightgown fall from my shoulders as I slipped out of it to put on my normal clothes for the night. A deep, wicked cackle threw me off for a moment and I felt hands slip under my arms from behind, cupping my bare breasts.

"I only came to see if you were awake. I wasn't expecting you to give me a show upon my return."

I chuckled and leaned my head to the side to expose my neck for him while he started rolling my breasts in his grasp, slipping over the sensitive skin of my darker nipples. "How long was I out for?"

"Mm, five hours I believe. That was the approximate potency of the sand." He pressed his hips against me, letting me feel how much I had riled him up already.

I found it flattering that after all these centuries, all I had to do to get him into bed was to stand there, partially, if not mostly, naked. There was a sort of power in it, knowing that it was so simple, and yet his eyes never strayed far.

"I take it you're in a better mood than before?"

I nodded, biting my lip as he trailed his fingertips down my chest, over my stomach, and around my hips. Despite the atrocities happening in the world, I couldn't help it that I felt what I did. I could never deny him for long. He was too seductive by nature, and knew just what made my knees weak and keep me begging for more of him.

"Good. I would have hated to do this the other way." His fingers slipped under the band of my black panties, creeping slowly to make me shiver in anticipation. "A quick one won't hurt. And it has been a long time since Drago has been out of our sight for more than a day."

I let out a soft mewl as he ran his finger over my clit. It was true. I loved my son with everything I was, but for the past ten years he had been such an anchor, draining both of us of time and patience. I regret nothing of the time spent raising him, and I would do it all over again in an instant. I had just not been ready for what challenges awaited me every day. Pitch had at least been a parent before and knew what to expect, though slightly less due to having a boy this time. From what he told me, girls were much easier to raise. I believed him.

I sighed as the finger circling my clit dipped inside me, letting him coat the digits in my juices. While he knew what made me squirm with pleasure, I knew what worked on him just as well. If he wanted a quick one, a quick one he would get. I reached behind me, pressing my palm against the rigid bulge in his pants. He hissed in my ear and pressed harder against my hand. "There's my naughty girl." His hand retracted from my hip for a moment and I felt him push my own away. I heard the zip of his pants and the shuffle of fabric before he let out another hiss, this one a bit lower. He pulled my hand back, putting it on his smooth, firm shaft.

Knowing Drago was out of the lair, I didn't have to hold back. I let out a cry as he set the pace of fingers, finding just the right spot. "Mm, right there Oogie."

"Is that right?" He sighed into the skin of my neck, pressing against my back as I squeezed his tip gently. "Have to do it harder than that, love. You know that."

I knew that exactly. I took my hand away and pressed my tongue to the palm. I knew he could see precisely what I was doing. His pace faltered just a bit as I coated my palm, trailing my tongue in intricate patterns. Once I knew I wouldn't last much longer, and that I was covered enough, I reached back again to grasp on to him. He moaned and grabbed on to my hip in a bruising hold at my firm strokes, passing over his sensitive tip.

"You wicked girl," he said through his teeth. He quickened his finger's strokes and I twitched in his hold, never letting up on my own.

"Powers above. I'm coming, I'm—" I couldn't speak, couldn't do anything as the pleasure erupted all over my body, making a loud cry escape my throat. He drew it out, holding me in place as my body tried twitching away from him.

He took my hand from him and pushed me forward, making me hold myself up on the edge of the bed. I bit my lip as he pulled my panties down my hips just enough to leave me exposed for him. I felt him rub his cock against my slit, teasing the still sensitive flesh. Just as I was about to tell him off he shoved himself inside, making me gasp and grip on to the sheets as he filled me up.

He was relentless in his strokes, and I found no reason to tell him to stop, even when I knew I couldn't do this for very long. With how worked up he had been, I didn't expect him to last that long. "Fuck, Serah, you're too damn tight." He leaned over my back and I felt his teeth take purchase in my shoulder while he gripped on my hips.

I couldn't take the force of his thrusts. Every push brought me closer to another release, and I moaned as his jagged teeth sank into my flesh. I found myself screaming his name, his real name. He bit harder, sending my mind reeling. In an instant I came around him and cried out louder than I had in a very long time. He kept his animalistic thrusts through my climax, drawing it out as I froze, unable to do anything besides clenching the sheets between my fingers, hearing the fabric protesting under my sharp nails. "Koz-Kozmotis! I can't— I can't take it! It's too much."

"I'm almost there, love," he muttered into my skin, letting out a few loud moans of his own. "Move with me."

I did as he asked, crying out with every jerk of his hips. I put up with it as long as I could, feeling the pressure rising again. I leaned into his chest, reaching up to wrap my arm around his neck. I caught his lips with mine, sighing and moaning into his skin as he kept moving. My fingers wrapped around his hair and tugged just as he liked. I pulled his bottom lip between my teeth and bit it gently. Both sensations made him jerk harder and moan. There was one more thing I knew he liked, and I was willing to put up with it for the night. "Don't pull out."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded and kissed him again. "I want to feel it."

"You are a very dirty girl, aren't you?" He pulled my arm off his neck and forced it back to the bed so I could stay upright. His grip tightened on my hips into a bruising hold. "As you wish, Serah." His pace picked up, making my head go light. I couldn't take much more.

Luckily I wouldn't have to. The frantic thrusts grew random and he bit my other shoulder, growling in such a primal way it set me off again. I screamed as he pounded into me, never letting up for a second as I came again, clenching down on him so hard I was surprised he could still move. The sounds he was making were too carnal, too sexy, knowing he was letting me see him at his most vulnerable moment in time.

He choked on a snarl and I felt a sudden heat in my belly as his thrusts slowed down to short jerks, both our breathing heavy. "That never gets old," he muttered, and I could hear the smile in his words. "Oh, and I forgot."

"Hm?"

"The Guardians are downstairs. They found out something they wanted to tell us."

My heart stopped and I couldn't think for a moment. It took me a full five seconds to comprehend what he had said. I pushed him off and stood up straight, glaring at his grinning face. "Kozmotis Pitchiner, you unbelievable jackass! You made me think no one was here!"

His grin still stayed. "As if they don't know we still fuck."

"That isn't the point!" I clenched my fingers a few times, unable to believe him. "Why would you let me be that loud if you knew they were there and that sound travels far in this place?"

He shrugged and fixed his pants. "When was the last time you were able to let go like that?"

It had been a very long time. Most nights he would have to silence me, either by keeping a hand over my mouth or kissing me to absorb the noise. I felt his seed start to drip down my leg and I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Don't do it again." I looked around for something to clean off with.

He stood in front of me and tilted my chin up to look at him. "I only wanted you to have some sort of pleasure in this. Things won't be easy for awhile."

I knew he wasn't lying. I held on to his coat and leaned against his chest. "What if we can't stop this in time?"

"Then at least we tried." He kissed my hair and pulled back. "I'll let you get cleaned off and dressed. I'll take the brunt of their reaction to the noise." He sank into the shadows and disappeared as if nothing had happened.

I looked around for a spare towel from one of my trips to the falls and found one not far from the fire, laid out to dry. I stepped out of the panties and tossed them to the side so I could clean off. It was a pain to clean, but it was worth it to let him finish as he should every once in awhile.

When I finished up and redressed, I slipped into the shadows myself and emerged on one of the lower catwalks, immediately walking into a conversation.

"—won't die while still controlled. So that presents a whole new issue."

It was Bunny who was talking and I frowned at his words. I approached the table, still feeling a little awkward knowing they had heard me doing… that. "What's going on?"

"Bunny brings up good point," North said, and I didn't meet his eyes. "Revenant usually die with head chopped off, no?"

"Or burned to ashes or dismembered," I said, nodding. "But yes, they usually die with decapitation. Or re-die, whatever. What about it?"

"These aren't normal revenants," Bunny said. "They were raised by someone. They didn't come back to complete their tasks."

I nodded again and raised my gaze, looking to each of them. Only Jack seemed a bit uncomfortable. "Which makes sense. If the necromancer could raise it from the dead once, he could keep doing it."

"Our only issue is where it would be hiding," Tooth said while Sandy nodded in agreement. "We don't know where to start. The revenants are all over the place."

"Pennsylvania."

She frowned at me. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Jamie said he saw someone with glowing eyes harassing a girl at a party a few months back. Not long after that, the Frankford Slasher comes to town and kills his roommate. Then after that, the Axeman comes to try to finish the job. The others… I'm not really sure why they're around, or what their purpose is." I looked to North. "The Necromancer is Jamie's age, in his college."

His frown deepened. "This is troubling news."

"Yes, that's exactly what I thought when Pitch told me what Jamie saw was a Necromancer."

"How we know for sure?"

"Death told him." The three words alone tasted vile. "She reaped souls Pitch and Drago found and she told him what was happening. She won't stop it though."

"Wouldn't think she would," Jack said, leaning on his staff. "She is one of the chaotic neutrals of our world."

Which I found more insulting than anything. I classified myself as a chaotic neutral type. "No, she's more a neutral evil, if that's what you want to use." My words were a bit clipped. "Regardless, she will not be helping, and thus is not part of this discussion."

"What Hana means is we have more pressing issues to discuss," Pitch said before anyone could question why I despised that woman so much. "I say we split up and search Jamie's campus tonight and see what we can find. It is a Saturday night, there should be something going on in a few hours."

It was then something hit me. "North, Drago does have someone watching him besides Jamie, right?"

"Of course. The Missus is still home."

I had forgotten North had married not long ago. It was a perfect match too. Mrs. Claus was a femme fatale if I had ever met one. She would be able to handle several Dragos at once. "Never mind then. I agree with Pitch. We should leave for Pennsylvania at once."


	14. Chapter 14

14.

I hadn't realized how large the campus really was until we split up and I wandered the sidewalks alone. The sun wouldn't completely set for another hour, but it still gave me a chance to look around for anything out of the ordinary. And it allowed me to listen to the wandering students discuss their plans for later. Not everyone was going to a party it would seem, and many were still cautious to be out after dark after what had happened. Especially not after their news stations had linked a trail of bodies from Frankford to Burgess, passing through the university on the way. I couldn't blame them.

I was able to hear of one party, the most common to be talked about by passing students as they left a common eating area. A fraternity was celebrating their midterms being over, not that they needed an excuse to party.

"Lots of chicks, right?"

"No doubt. Tommy's been gathering them up for a week now."

"A costume party was a boss idea though. Two in one month."

"Yeah, that's right. Halloween will be even sicker though."

_If there is a Halloween…_ I thought bitterly as I watched two young men exit the building, one of them picking at a cupcake he had taken.

The one without the cupcake adjusted his pack. "So what if something weird happens again? Like a few weeks back?"

"Not much we can do about it," the other answered, peeling the wrapper off. "Besides, there hasn't been a report of anything over here since that kid died. Seems the crazy ass moved on to Burgess."

I decided to follow them to see what else they had to say. I also had no idea how to get anywhere on the campus.

"It's just weird," the first one said. "They can't find any evidence leading to a killer, yet the guy is leaving the axes behind. Nothing is showing up."

"Maybe it's the Boogeyman," the one with the cupcake said mockingly.

"As if. You know he only steals kids from their homes if they don't behave."

_If only you knew the half of what he can do._ I shivered, remembering our brief encounter a few hours ago.

"So says the stories." Cupcake Kid shrugged. "Anyway, whatever killed that kid moved on. We've had nothing since."

"Doesn't mean it won't happen again."

"Even if it does, the guy wouldn't bother the party. Too many witnesses, man."

"I suppose so. Let's get this shit dropped off and get ready."

I had to get to that party. It was the best lead I had. I made myself invisible and dropped from the tree I had been hanging out in. If I was to get in to the party, I'd have to blend in as best as I could. Knowing kids, they'd all be drunk, aided by all sorts of alcohol. I couldn't blend in that way. As I've said, my systems don't all work, and so alcohol would be useless. However, there were other ways…

I pulled a flask out of my shorts, one I carried just in case I needed to gather an emergency dose. I blew in the ear of Cupcake Kid, and he dropped his wrapper in surprise. "Did you feel that breeze?"

"What breeze? Trees are still, man. Have you been pregaming without me?"

Before he could answer I did it again, this time touching his arm lightly. "Bro, quit it. You're messing with me, aren't you?"

"The fuck are you smoking? I'm not doing anything."

I switched to the other boy as he was adjusting his pack. He looked around, but otherwise didn't react. I tapped in to the miniscule waves of fear they were feeling. _"Marcus…"_

Marcus looked to Cupcake kid. "Louis, you say something?"

"No, why?"

Marcus pulled his jacket tighter and I almost giggled in delight as the waves rose. "Something's up."

"Told you."

The waves rose again as I put on my most pathetic sounding voice. _"Marcus… Louis… help me."_

Their pace began to quicken. "I don't like this," Louis muttered. "Let's get out of here."

Marcus stopped short and turned around, looking for me. "This has to be some sort of prank. Someone's trying to be funny."

_"You think being dead is funny? Why don't you give it a try?"_ I materialized in front of them, a wicked smile on my face.

The boys' faces went from mild nerves to full on panic. Their jaws moved as if they were trying to form words, but their cords just wouldn't work.

I chuckled and opened my flask. "That's right boys. Being dead is so funny." I coaxed the waves into a corporeal form, filling the flask with a potent batch of purplish liquid. They stood stock still the whole time, eyes widening at the sight of the liquid forming from apparently thin air. Once it was full I closed the top and pocketed it. "Would it be too much trouble to ask where the party is?"

They still seemed to have trouble forming words. Louis managed to squeak out "Chestnut" before all speech left him.

I rolled my eyes. Their use had run out. "Boo." They suddenly screamed and scrambled over each other, darting in the opposite direction. I searched a nearby map, looking for where the fraternities were. I managed to find them, and figured out a way to get there. Still didn't mean I was any less lost. I couldn't imagine how the freshman did it. They had the added pressure to finding their classes and making it there on time five days a week. Six if they were unlucky and had classes Saturday.

Truth be told, as I traveled the sidewalks of the campus, I was fascinated by the goals the students had, as well as all the things they were interested in. They slaved away for at least four more years on top of their twelve just to get a piece of paper saying they received proper training in a certain field. It was a time where they were finding out who they were, where they belonged in the world. Nothing ever changes with that. Everyone on that campus striving to get that paper wanted the same thing. To find their place.

It took awhile, but I managed to find the fraternity houses. The sun had set long ago, and kids were already filing in to one house decked out in Halloween decorations. I smiled. They had an impressive house, one of the best decorated I had seen yet. They must have dumped a lot of money into just the decorations themselves. I heard music start up from inside and the guests already there shouted in joy.

"This would be where I'd find you."

I jumped and turned around, coming face to face with Pitch. "Damn it Oogie, you know I hate that!"

"Which makes it all the more fun." He nodded out to the house from my vantage point in some bushes. "I heard a 'wicked awesome' party was happening tonight. Thought that would be the best place to look for the necromancer again. Seems you shared my thoughts."

"Seems we all did," another voice said off to the side. I looked to see Jack and the others approaching.

"We're in luck," I said, pointing through the bushes. "Costume party. If anyone sees you, you can pretend to be in costume."

Tooth gave a sad smile. "Unfortunately, we're not ones that can be seen by young adults. Most stop believing in us in their early teens."

"Some still believe in me though," Jack said, stepping forward. "I'll help you inside."

I repressed an urge to grin. Jack had been cheating for the past ten years. With the help of his snowflakes, he had been visiting kids all over the world, spreading his belief. I couldn't blame him. Going three hundred years unseen and unheard…. I glanced at Pitch briefly. I could understand both of their desperations. I nodded. "I think we'll blend in." I looked to the others. "The rest of you, take to the campus. We've got this house covered."

North nodded while Sandy ushered the others back towards the campus. "Be careful."

"Of course." The three of us emerged from the bushes, gauging the reaction of the guests. We could in fact be seen, but we were assumed to be more college students. It felt good to be thought of as young as them. Even Pitch blended in better than I would have first thought. Some frat boy actually thrust a red cup into his hand as soon as we got through the door.

He merely looked at it with a curled lip as the boy walked away. "Why would they assume I would want this?"

"Welcome to college, Old Man," I said with a roll of my eyes. "Any excuse to chug a beer is an excellent one."

"We are trying to blend in," Jack said with a shrug and a grin.

"Is that a challenge, Frost?"

"Just an observation," the winter spirit said, his hands held up in defense, though the grin remained. "Though I don't think I've ever seen the great and powerful Boogeyman intoxicated."

Pitch arched a brow. "I thought we were working?"

"We are," I said. "Working on blending in and finding the necromancer. So drink that beer or hand it over."

"As if you can digest it." Regardless he did as asked, grimacing. "This is awful."

"What, did you expect good ale at a college party?" I pulled my flask out, knowing it would just seem like I had brought my own alcohol. In a way, it wasn't far off from the truth.

Jack didn't fail to notice. "I thought you were dead with no working digestion."

"I am. Doesn't mean I can't use something else." When sure no one was looking I coaxed the liquid shadows out of the top of the flask just a peek before letting it slide back inside. I took a quick swig and instantly felt the telltale tingles as the liquid ran through me. "Always better fresh."

Jack rolled his eyes. "You were supposed to be gathering information, not scaring kids."

"I was the first one here, wasn't I? They gave me information, I took a bit of their fear. Even tradeoff."

"And their reward was what?"

I frowned. "I don't know." I shrugged. "Regardless, I got my information, and I got fear in a flask. I see no disadvantages here."

"Hana, these kids have enough to be scared about lately. They don't need anything else to set them off."

I narrowed my eyes. "Since when are you the Moral Police? I didn't harm a hair on their heads. I even let one of them finish their cupcake before scaring them." I shoved his chest, pushing him out of the way. "Gather information on your own, Frost," I snarled over my shoulder. Not much bothered me as much as when someone reprimanded me for doing what I had to do to survive. Not that I found it a chore, I really did enjoy seeing their terrified faces. But why was it so wrong for me to do so any other day than Halloween?

"Well hello Foxy Lady."

I froze as a hand landed on my shoulder and I turned around to see a frat boy dressed as a pirate, with a loose puffy shirt. Sexy Pirate. Wonderful. I had to blend in. "Me?"

He looked around. "Well, yeah, you. And seeing you from the front…" He let out a wolf whistle and I was immediately flattered. "I see we did only get the best looking girls. Can I get you a drink?"

I smiled and tilted my flask. "Already got one, thanks."

"Your accent is interesting. Are you foreign?"

"Ah, I've spent quite a bit of time in Italy, actually." I turned around again. "I should be getting back to the party."

The boy stood in front of me. "What's the hurry? I'd love to know how you got your eyes to glow like that. One of those new contact sets?"

"Um, yeah. Exactly that."

"What are you supposed to be anyway?"

"The Spirit of Halloween."

He nodded a few times. "Haven't heard that one before." He leaned against the fireplace. "I'm a pirate. The notorious Blackbeard, in his younger days."

I arched a brow, taking in the sight. "You do realize Blackbeard went mental due to syphilis eating at his brain, and he was only successful due to the fact his crew never dared to defy his crazy orders?" I smiled at the boy's blank stare. "I see you didn't know that. Shame. You should do research on the things you dress up as."

He merely grinned. "I see there's brains as well as beauty. What is your name?"

Before I could answer, a stronger hand sat on my shoulder. "None of your business, boy."

Leave it to Pitch to come to the rescue every time. "And who are you?" the boy said with a bit of fearful defiance. "Her boyfriend?"

"Actually, yes." He disappeared from behind me and ended up behind the boy, who immediately looked scared out of his wits. Especially when a shadow tendril held up a clear tube filled with six white pills and Pitch's hands gripped his arms behind his back. "There are easier ways to get girls than drugging them. Is that what you planned to use tonight?" He shifted his grip to force the boy to look to me. "Were you going to use it on her?" The boy didn't move for a moment, and no one seemed to even notice anything going on in this corner. "Answer me, or I'll shove this whole vial down your throat." Another tendril wrapped around his throat. "Were you planning on using these on my woman?"

The boy's eyes squeezed shut and he nodded.

"Such a shame." He lowered his voice, leaning right into the boy's ear. "The Boogeyman knows where you sleep, Richard. Don't make me have to torture you in your sleep. I have better things to do with my time." He released the boy, who immediately stumbled away, sending a fearful glance back our way.

"You sure do know how to blend in." I leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I could have handled myself, but thank you, Oogie."

He threw the vial in the fire and the flames flared up as the glass melted. "I know you could have. You shouldn't have to when I'm around though."

"My valiant dark knight." I took a few pulls from the flask before offering it to him. "If we have to stay here for awhile gathering information, might as well make it fun."

He took the flask without complaint. "Cheers then." He knocked it back and I couldn't help but watch his Adam's apple bob with each pull. I cleared my throat and looked away as he handed it back. "I suppose we should split up again and see what we can find out. Maybe someone else has seen this hooded kid."

I nodded. "Meet me out on the side of the house at midnight. Gives us four hours to gather information."

"What about Frost?"

I felt a snap of anger and knew my eyes had flashed in result. "Jack is on his own."

His wicked grin returned. "I'll see you at midnight then." As I watched him disappear in the growing crowd, I could have sworn I saw a flash of yellow eyes from underneath a passing hood. Before I could get a fix on the eyes, they vanished in the crowd. I shook my head, passing it off as the liquid fear messing with my head already. I did feel different. More loose, more carefree. I shrugged and sipped my flask while I asked students questions for the next four hours.


	15. Chapter 15

15.

I know I lost some memory at some point that night. Luckily the effects of the liquid fear wore off just enough, and I only lost an hour. I hadn't found anything out. No one had seen anyone meeting the vague description I could manage to sputter out. I think I blended in too well at one point. I saw far too many boobs than I ever thought I would. I even saw a dick or two from the immature jocks. I only say or two due to the fact I couldn't tell if the second one was real or a joke. I eventually got out of the sea of raging hormones and went up the stairs leading to the fraternity bedrooms. Most were occupied, of course, but a few were still open. It was a bit quieter up there as well. I leaned over the balcony and watched the dancing young adults, fighting every temptation I had to scare them silly.

I hadn't noticed a presence next to me, and I glanced to see a shy looking girl in a long Victorian style dress staring at the party. Upon closer inspection, I noticed her stomach protruding in just the right way for only one thing. "So how far along are you?" I asked at a volume above the thumping music.

The girl startled and looked to me, as if amazed I addressed her. "Um, eight months now."

I cracked a smile and closed my flask for the night. "I remember being that far. Should be kicking up a storm by now. Boy or a girl?"

"Girl, says the doctors. What do you have?"

"A boy. Ten years old."

She frowned. "You don't look a day over twenty though."

Right on the button, though I'd technically been twenty for four hundred and seventy-one years now. "I'm older than I look," I said with a knowing smile. "You seem to be a bit out of place."

"It's really the only place I can—I observe mainly. It's the only time I can do so. Not a lot of people talk to the pregnant girl in college."

She probably thought I could relate. I could only relate with what was growing in her belly. I found it amusing she thought I was a human in costume. "Is the father in the picture?" I was surprised to feel a flash of fear from her.

"I'd feel better if he wasn't." She crossed her arms and leaned against the railing. "What about you?"

"He's wandering around somewhere down there," I said with a nod to the crowd. "Our son is with a friend of sorts." I was more interested in the fear. From what I could tell she had no bruises. So what was she so afraid of? "If you don't mind me asking, why would you feel better if the father wasn't around?"

She shifted her gaze left and right. "I-I can't say. I'm sorry." She hurried away, leaving me horribly confused.

I shrugged and put my flask away, deciding to not waste the rest of my fear high worrying about some knocked up girl. I made my way back downstairs and navigated through the mass of people grinding against each other to the music. I went outside and looked around, hearing chatter of those smoking outside and the chirping of crickets, as well as the growing cries of the cicadas. I ducked around to the side of the house, where a couple was busy fucking against a tree. I slipped into the shadows and chuckled while my voice was disembodied. Once they paused I emerged from the darkness, a wide grin on my face. "Naughty things, you. Who knows who would catch you doing such dirty acts?"

They instantly screamed and ran off without bothering to fix much of their clothing. Her dress fell back to her ankles, but his pants immediately fell to the ground, tripping him. He scrambled to his feet, the both of them shrieking something about demons.

I saw Pitch round the corner and step out of the way of the running kids, looking from them to me. He shook his head. "I can't leave you alone for a few hours without you causing mischief."

I met his emerging grin as he got closer. "I learned from the best, darling. Did you find anything out?"

"Unfortunately no. The whole night wasn't a complete—complete waste."

I started to notice his slightly stumbling gait. I let out an amused chuckle. "Pitch Black, are you drunk?"

"I believe so. Been ages since I had the chance to be."

I took a step back as he kept going, forcing me backward until I met the tree the two had been fucking on. "Behave yourself."

"I'm only having a little fun, Hana."

He didn't get to say more as I felt a surge of fear. Fresh. Not made by my hand. I pushed at his chest as he tried kissing my neck. "Stop for a moment."

He frowned. "What's wrong?" He must have felt it too by how sober he looked in an instant.

I looked past him and saw the pregnant girl from before run to the side of the house, as if avoiding something. I narrowed my eyes while she looked around, thinking she was alone. From the position we were in by the tree, we could see her, but she couldn't see us. It was too dark on this side of the house. "I know her. I met her inside not fifteen minutes ago."

She stopped and looked over her shoulder at the front of the house, a hand under her distended belly. She looked panicked. She started to run again, only to run right into a solid object.

An object wearing a hoodie with a yellow glow emitting from it.

My breath hitched in my throat as I gripped on to the tree to steady myself, and Pitch looked on behind me, hiding himself behind the trunk as well.

"Is this the only way I'll get to see you Jess?" A masculine voice said from beneath the fabric as he looked at her shocked face. "You've been attending every party thrown just to keep yourself surrounded by people after that night."

"You're a monster! I want nothing to do with you!"

He chuckled. "If that were true, why is it you're growing fatter every day? It can't possibly be the foul smelling food served at this place."

"She is still half of me, even if she was forced!" She shouted back, still looking terrified. "I-I can't end her life. That's not h-how I was brought up."

A chuckle came from beneath the hood. "You humans are so self-righteous." Without a verbal warning he backhanded her with a resonating smack. "You think I won't find the child after you birth it? It is mine."

I had to give the girl credit. She backed away, terrified but still holding strong. "She will never be taken by you."

He advanced on her with inhuman speed, backing her into the house and holding her there. "It isn't human. It is like me. Don't make me turn my fleet against you to tear it from your still living gut. I will without a second thought, I promise you that." She spit in his face and he grabbed her throat in a firm grip. "And yet you continue to defy me. Haven't you seen what I'm capable of enough? It's all over the news on your stations. Those in the other states are having a blast continuing their streaks without being caught until I call for them. They won't hesitate to rape you just as I did. They won't be as merciful with where they put their dicks. And they won't spare your life as I did."

The bite of the bark was digging in to my flesh as bile rose in my throat. This was the man we were looking for. There was no doubt about that. There was nothing I could do.

"Take the woman to North's," Pitch snarled.

I looked on, confused and panicked as he left the shadows of the tree, angrily stalking towards the necromancer.

He gripped the male's shoulder and spun him around, clocking him in the face before he had a chance to react, sending him stumbling back. I hadn't seen Pitch so angry in a very long time. He stood over the male and gripped the hoodie in both hands, bringing him back to his feet. He punched the man again and ripped the hood off his head, showing he had skin as pale as any normal human, hair as brown as a normal Caucasian. The only thing different was the ethereal glow of his eyes, just like mine. "You pathetic excuse for a man," he growled before throwing another punch to the necromancer's face, splitting his lip this time.

I rushed forward, grabbing Jess's hand. "Jess, right?"

The girl only nodded, still stunned at what was happening.

"Good. I'm Hana, that's Pitch. Now let's get out of here. Do not let go." I opened the Void and shoved her inside, keeping her next to my side with my hand on her arm. Otherwise she would have continued falling forever. I normally would have had her on Hessian, but given her pregnancy, that would do more harm than good. The portal closed instantly behind us. "I take it that was the father of your child."

She nodded again, looking around at the Void. It was dark, but a dark to where we could still see ourselves. Nothing else. It would be a lot to handle for someone's first time, I knew that. Especially after being shocked by our appearance. "W-who are you? Who was fighting Jason?"

"I'm assuming Jason is the necromancer." She nodded. "We're hunting him down. This is going to be hard to believe, but I am the Spirit of Halloween, Hana Eve. The man that clocked your assailant? That would be Pitch Black, the Boogeyman. Us and a few others known to you as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Sandman, Jack Frost, and the Tooth Fairy are hunting him down. Well, we were anyway. He is a threat to everyone in this world, and needs to be stopped. We're the only ones who can, especially with it so close to Halloween." The whole time I was rambling I was leading her in the direction that would lead us north. She stopped short and tried pushing my hand off. "I wouldn't do that. Not unless you want to fall forever. There is nothing beneath our feet right now."

She stopped struggling, but still didn't move. "You all are fucking crazy! The tooth fairy? The Boogeyman? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Not at all. It's quite a bit to be thrown into. Trust me when I say I'm taking you to a safe place. I don't expect you to believe me. I just want you to trust me."

"Was everything a lie just to get to me?"

"I never lied to you. Everything I told you was true. I do have a son. He's at the North Pole right now with one of your peers. Jamie Bennett."

A flicker of recognition flicked over her face and she let me lead her further. "He's the one that sent Jason away a few months ago. Is he alright? Did Jason hurt him?"

"Jamie is fine. He's helping us as best as he can right now. Now, I need you to brace yourself. You're about to be overrun with quite a bit." I opened the exit portal and led her into the main circle of the Pole, in front of North's globe.

I was about to slacken my grip, but she seemed a bit faint at the sights and noises of the yetis below, and the elves running about. "Easy, Jess. I know it's a lot to handle. Don't stress yourself more. It's not good for the baby." I led her to one of the chairs nearby and helped her sit. I saw a bruise forming on her cheek and felt sick as memories of my own abused days resurfaced.

I think that was why he had been so angry when he struck Jason. "Jess, I need you to tell me everything you know. Everything that happened to you. How you met Jason."

She was about to answer when a sharp "Mommy!" rang out. I looked around and saw Drago rush forward, crashing in to my middle and holding on tight. "Drago, I thought you'd be keeping busy harassing the elves."

"They're too easy to scare," he said, his eyes lit up with mischief. He looked to the blonde next to me. "She's pretty. Who is she?"

"Drago, this is Jess. Jess, this is my son Drago."

Drago put on a charmer's smile and held out his hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Miss Jessica." He frowned. "But why are you so scared of someone named Jason?"

Her eyes widened and I sighed. He'd never learn. "Drago, can you please find Clara for me? I need to speak with her."

The boy nodded and ran off, casting one last look at us over his shoulder before he descended the stairs to the elevator.

I looked to Jess again. "I'm so sorry. He gets that from his father. He still hasn't learned there's a proper time and place to bring things up."

She still looked a little shocked, brown eyes still wide. "It-it's fine. How did he do that? Read my fears?"

"Well how else do you think the Boogeyman knows just what to use to scare you silly?" I sat on a chair next to her.

"It's all real? Every story I grew up with, they're real?"

"As real as they get."

"Is this where you all live?"

I laughed a bit. "No, this is where North lives. Um, Santa. His name to us is North, short for Nikolai St. North." I frowned. "Come to think of it, I have no idea where he even came up with Santa Claus." I shrugged. "He and his wife Clara live here with the elves and yetis making toys for children of the world. Pitch, Drago, and myself live in the catacombs of Venice, in an area closed off from the dead. I use that area as my workshop for Halloween. Bunnymund, or just Bunny for short, he lives underground in Australia in an area he calls the Warren. There he grows eggs and paints them with help of the plants. Toothiana lives in Southeast Asia, and her palace has seven columns to house teeth of children, one column for each continent. Sandman lives on an island called the Islands of Sleepy Sands. And that's about it." I shook my head. "But down to business. I need to know what you know."

She nodded, still coming to terms with everything. "I met Jason at a party eight months ago. It wasn't my first party, and so I knew what to expect when someone started hitting on me and wouldn't take no for an answer. Jason came out of nowhere and told the guy off. In return, I let him get me a drink. One drink turned to two, and two into three. I was stupid for not keeping track of how many drinks I had. At the end, he had me doing shots. When I was drunk he…" She seemed sick for a moment and I let her take her time to calm down. "He raped me. I knew it was happening, but I didn't have the strength to stop it. He didn't use protection, didn't care that I told him no. I was too scared to call the police. I didn't want to disrupt the party. I got dressed and ran back to my dorm.

"A month later I found out I was pregnant. Jason approached me again, but he was different. His eyes were yellow instead of green. They didn't start glowing until Jamie helped me two months ago." She rubbed at her belly. "Jamie was so sweet. He drove Jason off and brought me back inside and asked if I had anyone I could call to come get me. As drunk as he was, he didn't try anything. He was genuinely concerned for me. We found my roommate and we went home."

"If you don't mind me asking, why do you keep going to the parties if Jason can find you there?"

"It's stupid, but it's where I feel most safe, surrounded by a lot of people. Jason can't hurt me there. I made the dumb mistake of panicking and running outside. I thought there would be more people on the side of the house." She smiled again. "Thank God you and your husband were out there when I came out. I don't know what Jason would have done if you weren't there to save me. I'll have to thank him when I see him."

I found no point in correcting her. "He'd just be glad to know you're safe. Do you know when Jason started getting in to necromancy?"

She shook her head. "I'd have to guess that it would be around when his eyes changed. Five months ago."

Five months. In five months he had gathered up enough energy to raise not one, but seven revenants from the grave. Something wasn't right. "Do you know why he's set seven serial killers loose on five different states?"

Again her head shook. "I don't know what he's planning. I avoid any meeting with him that I can, as you've seen."

Which left us with a fat lot of nothing. But at least she was safe.

"Will he be alright? Your husband I mean. Jason can get rough."

I cracked a grin. "My Boogeyman can get rougher. He'll be fine."

"I hear someone called 'Mommy' is looking for me!" a thickly accented female voice shouted from downstairs. "She better get her arse down here then!"

I chuckled towards the voice. "Jessica, it's about time you meet Clara, or someone you'd know as Mrs. Claus."


	16. Chapter 16

16.

I don't think Jessica was expecting the woman waiting for us downstairs. Stories depicted Mrs. Claus as plump, white haired, wore glasses, and an overall kind woman. She was viewed as always supplying her husband with sweets with a smile on her face.

I have no idea where the stories started or how, but that was not Clara. Not even close. Clara North was a femme fatale if I had ever seen one. She could hold her own in a fight, as was proven by the two Viking swords hooked to her belts. They were not for decoration. The woman was thin, same as me, even thinner I would think. I could never really tell. Any time I saw her, just as now, she always had tight black pants, a white blouse, and a red corset. That, and ass kicker boots. There were no other ways to describe such things. She kept her blonde hair tied back, which only made her blue eyes more intense.

She was Scandinavian alright, through and through. Which part I had no idea, and never bothered to find out. I still didn't know much about her besides the fact she could hold her own, and she was not someone to cross.

I liked her.

As we approached her she held herself with such power, her arms crossed over her chest. She could put Pitch to shame in the smug grin department. "Very nice to see you Mrs. Claus. I see the cookie diet is treating you well."

Clara showed a bit of teeth in her grin. "As is your diet of shadows, sex, and sin." She stalked over to us, her boots clacking against the wood floors. "Why is a human in my husband's domain?" she asked in genuine interest, circling us both.

I frowned. "Come now, Clara. The girl is ready to burst, and she's in trouble. I can't very well leave her on her own. Besides, it wasn't my idea to bring her here."

Clara chuckled and stood in front of us again, eyes on Jessica, though she spoke to me. "Your Boogeyman thinks much if he believes he is still welcome here after what he did last year."

I rolled my eyes as I remembered the rogue ghosts he had let loose in the pole, leftovers from Halloween. "He can be a child at times, I know. It was all in good fun. They were harmless."

"I found one in my panty drawer."

"Still harmless." Her gaze turned to me and I crossed my own arms. "Cut the act, Clara. You wouldn't have entertained Drago for so long if you were still cross with his father."

Clara's grin returned. "You know me too well." She shrugged and looked back to Jessica. "What is your name, girl?"

"J-Jessica Burns, ma'am." Her wide eyes gave her away her mood so easily. "Allow me to say I never thought you looked like this."

"Most don't. Hence why I allow illustrations of me to be painted to look like fat cow, feeding my husband cookies until he is ready to burst."

I grinned as well. "But you do that as it is."

"I force real food down his throat first, if he likes it or not. Which reminds me, what are you feeding that man of yours? He's skin and bones."

"He's always skin and bones. You know I don't eat, neither does he." I waved a hand in front of my face. "There are more important matters at hand."

Clara rubbed her chin. "Yes. Necromancer problem. Nikolai did tell me of it before he left last. I'm assuming this girl has something to do with it if you are offering protection."

I nodded. "The child is the necromancer's. He wants it for some reason. The baby can safely be born at any time, from now until the due date. She needs to be kept safe. Jessica doesn't know anything of why the revenants are roaming the cities though."

"And where are the others?"

"We split up hours ago, North, Tooth, Sandy, and Bunny taking to the campus, and Jack, Pitch, and myself surveyed a party since we're the only three that could be seen by most of the inhabitants. I'm not sure where the others are, but last I saw of Pitch he was driving his fists into the necromancer's face."

"Feisty as always. Well then. If we're to have Jessica as a guest, I shall have a place made for her to stay in the village."

"Actually," Jessica said, finding her voice, "I'd like to know about Jamie. Is he alright?"

Clara looked surprised for a moment. "Yes, Jamie is fine. I can take you to him if you like."

The girl nodded. "Yes, I'd like that very much."

Clara looked to me first. "I'll be back. Don't go far."

I only smiled. "I can't anyway. I'll wait." I watched them venture to the elevator, Clara talking to Jessica the whole way. As they entered it, Drago came off, a plate of cookies in his hand. I frowned. "How many of those have you had?"

"Not that many." His guilty face said otherwise.

I took the plate from him and put it on the table. "No more sweets. You'll never sleep."

He pouted but did nothing else to argue. Instead he looked at one of the elves as it hopped up on the table and began to lick one of the cookies. "Why are the elves so… basic?"

"Not all creatures are on the same level of intelligence, dear." A portal opened where I had exited, drawing my attention to it. The self proclaimed Big Four— Five now— came first, looking around. Following them, a tied up human was thrown through, landing on the floor with a harsh grunt. Bringing up the rear was Pitch, and the portal closed behind him.

"I thought humans landed on their feet," he said with mock regret. "I'll keep it in mind they don't."

Bunny roughly brought the human to his feet. "Mind leading the way to the holding cell, North?"

"My pleasure," the Russian said, leading Bunny to the elevators.

In the disruption I hadn't noticed the condition of anyone returning. However, Drago had. He grinned and pointed to his father as he sat in one of the chairs. "Cool! Dad got in a fight!"

I stood and looked to Pitch, seeing his lip split wide open and a trickle of blood sitting on his temple. "No, not cool! Don't get any ideas!" I picked up a cloth Drago had taken in with the cookies and brought it to him, clearing off the injuries. I bit my lip and lowered my voice. "It is damn sexy though."

The Boogeyman grinned. "I'll have to keep it in mind to lay men out flat when necessary." He took the cloth from me so he could dab at the injuries himself. "Jason became most compliant when I had a scythe to his throat. Funny how a deadly weapon put to your neck turns you into a whimpering idiot."

He knew he was turning me on and was making it worse. The evil, conniving git would get it eventually. "What did you find out?"

"For one, he's a lackey. An apprentice to someone who has never revealed their name." He dabbed the blood from his lip and tossed the cloth to the table. "He didn't say much, but it was fairly informative."

"It didn't help that you knocked him out," Jack said, tossing his staff back and forth. "Only after you blew out his knee. What about him pissed you off that much?"

He didn't answer. Instead he looked to me. "The girl made it here intact?"

I nodded. "Had a hard time believing, but she's fine now. Clara is taking her to see Jamie. Clara is having a safe home made."

"Out of morbid curiosity, why bring him here?" Jack asked.

Pitch arched a brow. "Bring a necromancer into my home next to the corpses of thousands? Brilliant plan, Frost."

He held his hands up in defense. "We're on the same side again, you know that, right?"

He curled his lip and rolled his eyes.

I looked to Sandy as he signed, "What do we do with him?"

It was a good question. We didn't kill unless… a dire situation rose up. And we didn't exactly have a law system when it came to things like this. There was no judge, jury, and executioner in our world. The only one with the closest amount of that power would have to be Manny. And good luck getting in touch with him. "I'm not sure. Keep him in the cells for now, I suppose. Is there anything else you found out?"

"His orders were to cause mass chaos with his growing powers. For now, from what we can tell, he's cut off from his creations. Meaning they're wandering around without the source keeping them together," Tooth said. "They should whither and fall apart into nothing."

I shook my head. "Typically yes, but there is a surge of energy that builds up to and beyond All Hallows. Things from beyond are more powerful around now. These things could last on their own for another three weeks. They need to be stopped."

"We'll split up," Jack said. "One person per revenant."

"We'll split into twos. Think. These revenants absorb the souls of those they kill, gaining some of their skills. With enough of the same people killed, the revenants could be more deadly." I looked as the others returned with Clara in tow. "Are you up for a zombie hunt?"

Clara stopped, her hands on her hips. "When are we not ready for a fight?"

"We'll start with the four most dangerous ones," I said, looking to each of them. "And then we'll move on to the others. Send one of your helpers to us if you are in trouble or if you have beaten your revenant. We'll meet back here and take care of the other three after. These things must not be allowed to live till Halloween."

North nodded. "It settled. We all meet back here when target is beaten."

Jack smirked and leaned on his staff. "Piece of cake."


	17. Chapter 17

17.

He just had to say piece of cake. Of all the things to say, he had to say that. When you say something is going to be simple, it usually ends up a lot harder than expected.

We took Gary Ridgway, a man known for killing women on the side of the road in his prime killing days. Reports of a stolen truck rose up around the same time as the revenant's appearance, which led us to believe Ridgway had apprehended the truck, and was posing as a harmless trucker. The best way to get his attention was for us to split off, so I would look like a lonely woman on the side of the road. Allow me to put an emphasis on _lonely_.

And so there I stood, having shifted my comfortable clothes to that of short pleated skirt, a black button up shirt, and tall heeled boots. I was extremely uncomfortable standing on the side of the road, alone, looking like that. I froze as a disembodied voice chuckled, and an ethereal, familiar grip ran over my curves. "You're supposed to be waiting ahead, Oogie," I purred. The wisps of shadow tendrils ghosted over my black panties before wickedly withdrawing.

"I couldn't help myself," the voice answered as he joined back into the shadows, hiding. "A truck is coming. Steady yourself."

I squared my shoulders and took a deep breath before putting on a pathetic look, heading in the direction of the truck. Sure enough he honked the horn and pulled over, letting the truck settle with a harsh hiss. I stalked over to the side of the cab and let him open the door. "Oh thank goodness you stopped. I've been walking for, like, ever. My car broke down on my way back from a Halloween party, and my cell is dead. Can you give me a lift to the next truck stop that was a mile back?"

The man at the seat looked me over and nodded, tipping his hat up. "Sure can, little missy, hop right on in."

I climbed up into the cab and closed the heavy door. "Thanks mister. I don't know what I'd do if you hadn't stopped." I looked out of the window as he shifted the truck into gear and saw a brief flash of gold before the two shines disappeared. "Where are you taking the load?"

"Portland, actually. Got a delivery to make by morning. Though I do have enough time to spare to help a damsel in distress."

I let out a soft laugh. "I bet you say that to all the damsels, don't you?"

"Only the pretty ones."

If this guy had been human, I would have had no problems taking him out by now. As a revenant, he'd be very deadly, especially with all the souls he had been ingesting for awhile now. He reeked of brimstone, which covered up the slight smell of decay on him. To be honest, I was terrified of being alone in that cab with him. Not after the possibility he had absorbed enough strength to give Pitch some trouble on his own. I rubbed at my arms, chancing a glance at the revenant. "How long have you been hauling?"

"Oh, a good portion of my life. Never gets boring though. Never know what you'll see doing the Green River run. Folks say it's haunted."

I scoffed. "Haunted, really? And you believe in that stuff?"

"I sure do, Missy. They say years ago, probably before yer time, there was a man who did this run, and killed quite a lot of women."

"Oh? Who is he?"

"Gary Ridgway. They called him the Green River killer."

I shivered. It wasn't from my acting. "H-how many did he kill?"

"He was only convicted of forty-nine, but a man of his skill, it had to be at least ninety women."

I swallowed. Only forty-nine? And he had just flat out confessed to killing over ninety women. He didn't know he had confessed. I just hoped our plan worked, otherwise I'd be in quite a bit of trouble. I saw the truck stop a little bit ahead. And then I saw the sign fly by us. I panicked a bit and looked to him. "You passed the truck stop."

"Did I? Clumsy me."

I jumped as I heard something clasp and I looked to see the locks had activated, and my unlock button wouldn't work. The truck came to a stop and before I knew it, I had come to one conclusion: I was stuck in the cab of a truck with a revenant. A two-month-old killing machine much more powerful than I. He advanced on me and I pressed as far back into the truck as I could. "What do you want with me?"

"Oh, I think you know."

My eyes darted downward as a flash of moonlight reflected off a blade. By now I was sure I had stopped breathing at some point. "Please, just take me to the truck stop. I-I won't tell anyone."

"But see that's what they all say. Now, give us a kiss."

I slapped him as he leaned in and he pressed the knife to my collar. I had barely seen him move.

"Listen here, bitch, I can fuck ya dead or alive. I ain't got no preference. Now, what do you want to happen? Cuz either way I'll be fucking yer corpse."

I had thought Pitch could be terrifying. This was a whole new experience, and I didn't like it at all. His was a playful scare, one that would just ensnare children into nightmare-filled dreams for awhile. This man wanted nothing more than to kill. It's all he wanted as a human, and it's all he would want as a revenant, and since he only wanted to kill, he'd never be satisfied. My throat clenched as he slid the knife under my collar and began running the blade over the leather. "Please, don't ruin that."

He slapped me hard and I was powerless where I was to stop him. I was in no position to summon my weapons. "It's in the way of where I'll cut yer throat."

He was so blatant, so immersed in his work. This was what he was passionate about. And when you put your all in something, marvelous or deadly things can happen. I flinched as the leather snapped.

I was expecting his reaction. It was the same as everyone else. "The hell, bitch. That ain't no makeup." He held up his knife. "I'll kill ya, you whore! I ain't goin' back there!"

I sank through the side of the truck and I heard the metallic clang of the metal against the door. I had wasted no time in getting away. But since he didn't stop at the truck stop as he was supposed to, Pitch was too far behind to carry our plans through. I ran as fast as I could into the woods, thinking I could outrun him.

As I heard an inhuman howl ring through the night, I remembered something very important.

Revenants turned into hounds.

They turned in… to bloody… hounds.

I ran faster, slinking into the shadows here and there to try to confuse him. I summoned my scythes to my sides, running backwards for a moment to see if I could spot movement other than myself. I turned and dodged a tree. It was then that I really wished I had a psychic connection to Pitch somehow. Too bad something like that didn't exist. A bush to my right rustled and in a state of terror, I slipped into the shadows on the ground and emerged quietly in the top branches.

Gary the Hound from Hell raised his receding hackles in a growl, sniffing all along the tree. I held perfectly still, not daring to breathe as he sniffed everywhere. I had no intentions to test his hearing. He eventually bayed again and ran off in another direction.

I waited a minute before dropping back down to the ground, lowering into a crouch to keep myself quiet. Unfortunately, Washington had lost the leaves on their trees a few weeks ago. I froze as a growl sounded right next to my ear. I slowly looked and instantly backed away. "Easy. Don't make me hurt you."

The hound shifted back into Gary, a sadistic smirk on his face. "You? Hurt me? I don't know what you are, but you won't hurt me. I ain't human, bitch. What will you do about that?"

"Just this." I crossed the scythes in front of me and just as quickly released them, severing through his leg. I used the momentum to get up and get out of his way as he stumbled forward, slipping in the leaves.

"I'll get you for this, ya stupid whore!"

The stories of his low I.Q. showed itself easily. It seemed one thing he had acquired from his souls was a good sense of balance, and correction. He was up on his hands, knee, and bloody stump of a leg, hobbling towards me. It didn't even seem to bother him that he was pressing an open, bleeding stump to the dirt and sand. I backed away. "I'm warning you, Gary. Back off."

"Never. I'll fuck yer cunt with this knife, I swear it."

It was no wonder human females would be too petrified to fight back. He was determined. I slipped into the shadows and reemerged under him, holding the scythes straight up. Before he could even react he was skewered through, and I came fully out of the ground, pulling my scythes back out. I hadn't killed him. Not yet. Everything I had done was not a killing blow. As he leaned forward to cover the wound, I severed his head from his neck, though none too cleanly. As his body fell I summoned fire to my fingers, not letting him regain control over his body to grab his head. As ridiculous as it sounds, I've seen it.

I watched the body burn, ignoring the repugnant smell it was giving off, made worse by the fact he was quickly decomposing as the souls were released. At least they had only been absorbed, not assimilated. We could at least rest a little easier at night. I at least could.

"Now who might you be, woman?"

I looked behind me to see a translucent image of a hooded man. "You tell me."

"State your name and rank."

I stood my ground as the heat flared up behind me. "I am Hana Eve, Spirit of Halloween and Queen of Nightmares. To whom am I speaking?"

The man just chuckled. "I see. Well then, Miss Eve, I assume you will find out who I am soon enough."

"Hana!"

I looked back to the burning pyre as I heard Pitch call out. I looked back to the man, frowning as I saw he had disappeared.

"Hana! Where the hell are you?"

"I'm this way. Follow the fire!"

I heard a rustling in the direction his voice had come from and he emerged from a thick patch of trees and brush. "Are you alright?"

I nodded. "A little shaken, but I'm fine."

He nodded to the pyre. "Did he touch you?"

"He tried. I got away before he could." I flinched as he grabbed my chin, examining my face and then tilting my head back. "He struck you and ripped off your collar."

"I'm alive and in one piece. He's dead. It doesn't matter." I rubbed at my arms, feeling a sudden chill while I looked back to the pyre, growing bigger as the flesh burned away.

"I hope you gave him a few extra wounds."

"Of course I did. I cut off his leg for ruining the first gift you ever gave me."

"Good. That was expensive leather four hundred and seventy years ago." He watched the body burn away, seemingly unfazed by the smell. "You cut off his head as well?"

"Yes. There's something else though."

He frowned and looked to me. "What is it?"

"Before you showed up, an image of a hooded man appeared, demanding to know my name and status, but he did not give it in return."

"Why would he be interested in your status?"

"I don't know. But we should probably send 'bats to the others to let them know we're waiting for the next round."

"In that outfit? My dear, I can barely restrain myself while we're alone, right now, in front of a burning corpse. Don't test my patience in front of the others."

I had forgotten about the clothes and concentrated, shifting them back to my normal attire. I formed three Shadowbats, whispering instructions to them all. I sent them loose in the shadows created by the flames. "No word from the others yet. I wonder how they're fairing."

"They shouldn't have many problems. We would have heard something regardless if anything had gone wrong."

I nodded, allowing him to lead me away from the pyre. I wasn't watching where I was going and tripped over something. My hand hit something solid and rough and memories flashed before my eyes. Memories of a woman scared, so very scared. I felt her heart ready to burst as she kept running, unable to control her desperate whimpers. _"You shouldn't have run, cunt. Now I have to go and kill ya and fuck yer corpse. Ain't as much fun when you don't struggle."_

I saw a flash of light reflect off a knife, and I felt the pain across my throat. I felt my trachea fill with blood. I felt something be shoved inside me. I smelled the blood choking me. I couldn't fight.

It all stopped so suddenly as I was yanked back and the hidden bone was tossed far away from me. Pitch knelt in front of me, holding my face to make me look at him. "What the hell was that?"

My hand flew to my throat, only feeling the impressions from the rope. "That was… that was too real. I've never read bones that fresh before. The memories were still so strong." My fingers shook as I reached up for his arms and he used a thumb to brush aside a rogue tear. "She was so terrified. That fucker killed her and raped her while she died. Who-who the hell does that?"

"Humans. You know firsthand how cruel they can be. As you said, he's dead."

I nodded, keeping my eyes closed, trying to make the memories fade. They were persistent. The fire was starting to burn itself out as the oils from the decomposing flesh dried out. "What was the purpose for all this?"

He shook his head and helped me up, his lips pressed in a thin line. "I don't know. We'll have this sorted out before Halloween. Don't worry about that."

"It isn't the day I'm worried about. I'm worried about the amount of people who have died for a reason we have yet to understand. How many more will die before we can fix this?"

"I wish I knew." He opened a portal and summoned Onyx, making me summon Hessian. "We should wait for them to come back." He started on ahead and I looked back at the slowly smoldering pyre.

What the hell could the purpose of this be? And who was that man? Why did it matter what my status was? Everything was getting more and more confusing, especially now with the introduction of Jessica and Jason and that baby.

"Hana?"

I nodded and nudged Hessian into the Void. I could only hope it would all become clear soon. And I would punch Jack in the kidneys for saying this thing would be a piece of cake.


	18. Chapter 18

18.

I wasn't the only one with a pack of snow held over an injury. North had a nasty black eye that Clara was tending to and Bunny had a gash on his arm that Tooth was currently wrapping up. Only Jack and Sandy were left to return.

I sat between Pitch and my son, feeling the little eyes on me. "Don't you say it."

I didn't have to look to know that he was smirking. "So Mom."

"I swear, Child—"

"What were you saying about not getting ideas about fighting?"

Pitch snorted and I glared at him. "Don't encourage him."

He only folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, a smug grin on his face. "I've said nothing, Dearest."

He knew just what to say to irritate me further. He only said endearments when he was being an ass. Or more of an ass than usual, I should say.

"Drago, would you mind finding Jamie and Jessica?" Clara said, checking North's eye.

The boy nodded and left without complaint. I was just glad he was respectful and listened.

Once he was out of sight Clara began shouting at North in Russian, obviously reprimanding him for something by the way he flinched and tried to get a few words in. I hadn't learned many languages in all the years I had been alive, and Russian was not one of the few I had. I could only guess at what she was saying, but the tone of voice was harsh enough to understand she was not happy about something.

It looked like Tooth at least knew what Mrs. Claus was yelling at how she reacted a few times. I tossed my pack of snow on the table, feeling the bruised flesh of my cheek. Not as bad as it had been, but it was still tender. I hadn't realized just how hard the revenant had struck me when he did. That and I did bruise fairly easy. "Be honest, how bad do we all look right now?"

"The ones of us that did get hit?" Bunny said, flexing his paws and rolling his shoulder as Tooth finished wrapping up the wound. "Bonzer, considering what could have happened."

"I'm sure Gacy didn't appreciate a giant rabbit coming after him with boomerangs."

"I didn't appreciate having to chase down a grown man in a clown costume and take care of him. Stupid blighter nicked me when I didn't expect it. Luckily I had some backup."

Tooth patted her swords. "Glad to be of assistance." She flinched as Clara said something else and stormed off, North close on her heels saying something in an apologetic nature.

I nodded to them. "What's with that?"

"Apparently she had the situation under control and North stepped in to finish the job when she wanted to do it. She told him he was underestimating her again, that she wasn't powerless."

"And his defense was?"

"He loves her, you know this. He does whatever he can to protect her. He forgets she can hold her own." I saw her eyes flick to the chair beside me, and I knew what she was thinking. She thought I could relate. That was laughable. In a way, I had been left to my own devices since the beginning. He looked out for me, sure. He did protect me when it was severely threatening, or if I would die other wards. Other than that, my battles were my own. Not that he didn't care; I knew he did, very much so. He just respected the fact I could take care of myself.

I did understand why Clara was upset. North had stepped in to protect her when she knew she didn't need saving, and got himself injured in the process. He had been hurt trying to save her. I could relate to that, having seen my own love stabbed through the chest trying to send me away from danger with information to find Lucifer's woman. I did understand what she felt.

I stood as the last pair entered through the side, neither one showing any indication they had been in battle at all. In fact, they were smiling, Jack laughing at a joke Sandy had signed. Before I could be stopped, I slipped into the shadows and reemerged behind the Winter Spirit, socking him square in his right kidney. Sandy only looked on in surprise.

Jack doubled over onto his knees instantly, wheezing out, "Why would you do that?"

"Don't _ever_ say anything is a piece of cake again!"

He looked at me, horribly confused. Then his gaze fell to my cheek. Then to my throat. Recognition passed over his face and he looked to the others. "Guess I deserved a blow then. I'm on your level now." He rubbed his back as he got up again with the support of his staff. "But damn, Hana, did you have to hit me that hard?"

"Yes." I stalked back to my chair as if nothing had happened, letting Tooth discuss the next phase of our exterminations. My anger slowly subsided having taken out my frustrations in at least one way. I was still a bit riled up from earlier, still a bit on edge. The fact my throat was now exposed was only making everything worse. I hated the mark of my death. The rope scars on my wrists didn't bother me. The horns, markings, sharp ears, glowing eyes, and ashen skin of my rebirth grew on me quickly when I was first brought back. But my throat… Being reminded of the fifteen minutes I was hanging in that rope. I couldn't stand it. Having it on display only made me think everyone was looking at it. The slight rasp my faintly damaged windpipe made my voice sound like was bad enough. It made me think they all pitied me for what happened. I didn't want pity. What happened happened. There was nothing that could have been done about it.

Did Jack really deserve to be hit? No, but it felt good to do so. If I were superstitious I would have said he jinxed us all. In a way, I felt like he did. We were doing well in our progress of getting to the bottom of the problem before All Hallows came and made the revenants and necromancers more powerful. One was locked away, and the other… well, we needed to find him. To do that, we needed to keep Jason alive and well. Not that we could kill him. He was still human, as much as he tried to make it seem like he wasn't. Necromancy is only a magic set, not a breed of being. Some had more of an affinity for it, of course, but it still didn't make you inhuman. We needed him to talk while we finished off the remaining revenants. And who better to make a person talk than the man who could read the fears of every living creature on the planet to use against his enemies?

"So with North and Clara still missing, that leaves us to get rid of the last three," Tooth continued as I started listening again. "We should probably leave as soon as we can."

"Actually, I had a thought," I said, playing with the now damp sack that was at one point full of snow. Now it just had slush. "We still need to find one more necromancer, the master to the one we have locked away, correct?"

"Yes."

"Well, we do have ways of making him tell us where his master is."

Bunny frowned. "Sheila, we don't kill humans. We can't do that. It's up to his state to deal with his punishment."

"I'm aware. I never said kill him. We can't. None of us can. However, we do have someone here who could make him think he's about to die. He doesn't know the Chosen are forbidden to kill, and have no desire to tell him." I looked to Pitch as he listened intently. "If you're interested, of course."

"Simple enough work. Should be interesting to see what a necromancer fears."

I knew it would be a bad idea to leave him alone with Jason though. If the boy said the wrong thing… Well, he did already have a broken kneecap to show Pitch was not in a playing mood with him. "And someone should stay behind to make sure things don't go sour. Jack, would you mind?"

Jack shook his head. "Not at all."

Drago returned then with another plate of cookies. I only rolled my eyes, but noticed he was a bit flushed. "I thought Clara told you to find Jessica and Jamie."

"I did. I found them kissing in his room and I left before anything else happened."

I put a hand to my mouth to hide my amused smile. The poor thing had walked in on worse in his life. Probably why he believed the story that Daddy was only helping Mommy get to sleep for the longest time. It was partially true, at least.

Jack snorted. "He'll need a new fear soon."

I watched North and Clara return, both looking as if they had come to terms with their issues. "What do you think about pairing off Clara?"

She nodded. "Sounds good. Could use another woman's touch in the field."

"Let's wrap this up then," Bunny said, sheathing his boomerangs and standing. "We'll take Zodiac. North, you take Sleeper, and Clara, go after Slasher."

We each nodded our confirmation. I summoned Hessian and he materialized beneath me. Clara had a horse too, this one made of magical ice. Hessian had said if he wasn't so involved with Onyx he would have had a go at Frostbite. I took his word for it. I'd trust a stallion to be a good judge of character in a mare. I opened a portal to where we had last heard word of a victim of the Slasher. "Ready?"

"When am I not?" I met her grin and commanded Hessian forward. He showed off slightly by rearing a bit and darting into the portal. Frostbite followed close behind. This round would be a bit harder, since these had never been identified. They just died due to old age, never caught. I trusted Clara to have my back.

I only had one thought nagging my mind as we pressed forward towards Pennsylvania. Did I make the right choice in letting Pitch interrogate Jason?


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Switching up POVs again for this. I've started to like writing in Pitch's perspective as well, and I think I do it justice. Hope you all agree. Feel free to tell me I'm a dirty liar. ^^; And I'm so sorry this went to dark places.

19.

I knew why she left Frost behind. She didn't trust me alone with the boy. I could see it in her eyes. However, I let it go, biting my tongue. I couldn't argue with her. She was already angry enough having her throat exposed to the world, and still a bit scared of what could have happened with the revenant.

I waited for them all to leave before asking a yeti to lead me where the boy was being held.

"Dad, can I come?"

I shook my head. "Stay here. I won't be gone long." I ignored his attempts at puppy dog eyes. "Those don't work. I mean it. Stay. Here. Do you understand me?"

His face fell to one of disappointment. He looked down at his shoes and muttered, "Yes, sir."

"Good. Are you coming, Frost?" I didn't bother to check if he was as I followed the yeti down a path that would lead to the village tunnels.

The telltale sound of the wind let me know he was still following. "So… How's fatherhood going for you?"

I rolled my eyes at the question. "We don't need small talk."

"Not trying to do small talk," he responded, finally landing and walking properly. "I'm genuinely curious how a nice, respectful kid comes from being raised by you. That has to be all Hana."

I wouldn't bite. "I can be quite the charmer when I wish to be." I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of getting under my skin. His presence alone was already grating on my patience, what was left of it.

His voice faded out with the sounds of the workshop. Not surprisingly enough, the tunnels were lit with small torches that would never burn out. An early invention of North's, no doubt. Just the jolly atmosphere was enough to make my lip curl.

The yeti stopped at a heavy door and unlocked it. I saw Jack jump at the echo and I suppressed a grin. "Scared, Frost?"

"Not at all."

He wasn't a very talented liar. As we entered the last set of tunnels, even I was becoming more impressed with all the work North had put into this place. The brute stopped in front of one particular door and grunted. It was one language I didn't know out of choice. I assumed he said he was going to unlock the door. I gave him a stiff nod and he did just that.

A pair of yellow lights came from the darkness, followed by a chuckle. "You again, Tall, Dark, and Ugly?"

I could see him just fine, sitting awkwardly and hopefully in pain from his shattered knee. I folded my hands behind my back, not letting any emotion show. The child wasn't afraid. In pain, yes, but I felt nothing from him that would benefit me. Not on the surface. If he could be distracted long enough, I could find it. Everyone feared something.

Everyone.

He shifted his good leg. "Come to throw a few more blows? You're getting involved in more than you know."

I took a torch the yeti offered from the hall and dismissed him. As he left, Jack stood off in a corner. I didn't need him getting involved anyway.

"You don't know what's coming."

"I know I have another child's mess to clean up." I placed the torch in a holder by the boy.

"The revenants were only a stepping stone."

"I gathered that much." I stood in front of him, folding my arms in the same way again. "What does the girl have to do with this?"

"The useless bitch?" My temper only rose at his grin. "She was alone that night, vulnerable. All I had to do was tell her she was pretty. She spread her legs easily enough. Halfway through she decided she didn't want me. Wasn't having any of that. I raped her and I raped her good. And then I heard she was pregnant, just what I was aiming for. A child born of sin."

I narrowed my eyes, keeping focused. "Why?" As much as I hated to admit it, his lack of fear was unnerving. I still had found nothing. "Why would any child be beneficial to your cause? Newborns are helpless."

His grin broadened, making me angrier. "The way you say that… Tell me, that boy I passed in that nuthouse before, that was yours, wasn't it?"

I clenched my wrist behind my back. "What benefit would a newborn give you?"

He leaned back against the wall with an air of superiority. "I did things to her you could only imagine." He started to tap a rhythm out on the stone floors. "From the looks of you, you know a thing or two about that sort of thing."

"I was a soldier once. I've seen it happen on more than one occasion."

"So you've seen the way a man can force a woman to do what he wants her to do." I was digging into the deepest pits of his mind by now, and had still uncovered nothing. "You've seen how he can hold knives to their throats while they fuck them and tell them to stay quiet." There wasn't even a hint of emotion at all. Happiness, hopes, nothing. "You've probably at least beat a woman once in your life, haven't you? Don't deny it."

A tic formed in my jaw. "War brings out the worst in people."

"Oh I agree wholeheartedly. Which is why I'm here with a shattered kneecap." He leaned forward. "Tell me, what did I do to that witch that you hated so much?"

_"Please, Pitch…"_

My fist clenched behind my back.

"Did my hitting her make you remember something? Why else would a random stranger start beating up an assailant for a woman he doesn't even know? I know from your son up there you're with someone, that woman that took Jessica away. So you wouldn't have saved her for the intentions of fucking her. What did I make you regret?"

_"You're not well, Oogie."_

"It had to have been horrible to make you shatter my fucking knee. Did you hit her? That woman you're with? Did you darken her skin with bruises? Did you draw her blood?" His brows shot up suggestively. "Did you rape her?"

_There!_ I chuckled and let the anger rest in my center. The boy's smile faded. "I don't know why anyone would bother creating something as irritating as you. You don't know when to shut up, Boy." I sank into the shadows cast by the single torchlight. He looked around, trying to find my solid form. Even Jack's face held concern as he leaned off the wall, staff at the ready. As if he could stop me. He was trying to look at all the shadows, trying to find where I would emerge. Not that it would do much good.

I was the shadows.

I wrapped one around the boy's ankle and gently tugged, stretching the broken one.

Needless to say, he was scared now. He shrieked as I tugged his ankle twice. "What are you?"

Jack couldn't freeze me. Not without harming the boy. "I am fear." I used the darkness to increase the pressure on him, making his heart race faster. "I am the King of Nightmares." I focused on one point in the room and began to solidify the shadows. "And you've pissed me off far more than any human has before." Dozens of glowing eyes opened, and I opened large jaws filled with rows of teeth. Claws reached towards the boy who shuffled back into the wall as far as he could haul himself. Sweat dripped from his brow. I moved in closer and I could clearly hear his high pitched whimpers.

I absorbed that fear and transmuted it to darkness, dimming out the light of the torch. I reached in and growled a laugh in my warped, projected voice. "Do you know what happens to those who piss off the Boogeyman, Jason?"

The boy could only continue to stare in shock at the tendrils of darkness snapping from my shapeless body. I flicked his knee to get his attention and a cry escaped him. "Answer me Jason."

"Pitch—"

"He needs to answer the question Jack," I said, not looking at the Winter Spirit. I raised my voice. "Well Jason?"

"T-they get eaten," he muttered. "You eat the naughty children."

The jaws shifted into a large grin. "I bet you taste horrible." A snarl left the jaws and I lunged forward.

"Daddy!"

I turned around and my heart stopped. As defiant as always, he had followed us, keeping to the shadows as I had taught him to do. I wanted to curse the day I ever praised him for learning Shadow Stalking faster than his mother. I would have never had to see the terror in his eyes. "Shi… Drago. I'm still me."

He couldn't speak. He was too scared. He had never seen me without my guise as a man. Not even his mother had. Not like this. He threw open the door to the hallway and filled the room with light, making me hiss and shrink into the floor again. In my solid state I could withstand the light, but not as pure shadows.

"I'll get him," Jack said, rising with Wind.

"Shut the damned door."

A gust followed the Spirit out, plunging the room into its original state. I formed again, my attention drawn to the door. Jason chuckled, making me look at him again with a growl. "You're fear, huh? You're nothing. A… shadow of what you once were." He giggled at his own joke. "You are nothing compared to what's coming." He giggled again. A chill went down my spine as his voice went in a pitch to high for him to be normal. "It's coming."

I grabbed him by the shirt collar and hauled him to his feet. It seemed like he was so far gone he forgot about his knee. He kept laughing. "What is?" I jumped as his head suddenly snapped backward. Nothing at all caused it. I dropped him and he crumpled. I looked around, trying to find what had done such a thing.

"Took him long enough."

I looked back at the body as it shifted itself, leaning against the wall to keep it up. It grabbed the head and snapped it back with sickening ease.

Once the head was back in place, the new voice emerged from the boy again. "So. You're the King of Nightmares."

"To whom am I speaking?"

"I met your Queen. Very lovely woman. She sure does have a set of lungs on her when her leg shatters, doesn't she?"

My blood ran cold. "What have you done with Hana?"

"I've done nothing. The fool's revenants were her last opponent. I merely… helped a little with its aim before coming here just now. How it ends, I don't know."

I felt my shape slip. "I will not ask again. To whom am I speaking, before I rip that voice box out of his useless cadaver?"

"Charon. I'm afraid I don't have an extravagant or royal title. What sort of kingdom do you rule over anyway, King Boogeyman?"

"My name is Pitch Black. What is it you want? Why are you doing this?"

The cadaver sighed and shifted. "You're no fun. Anyway, in our way of life, there is a creature of the highest rank in divination. See, divination is—"

"I remember your sort being those of divination, I was there. Continue to your point before the body becomes mute."

"Well then, if you know how necromancy works, then you know the deities we summon and those we would be better off not bringing here."

I locked my jaw. "You wouldn't."

"Oh but I would."

"You'd need an impossible amount of sacrificial blood for a ritual such as that."

Charon's voice only laughed again. "How much blood does the average human body hold, Mr. Black?"

"Ten pints."

"Now tell me, Mr. Black, the so-called Nightmare King, how many people has this useless worm's revenants killed?"

My blood froze. The last time we looked at the body count, the numbers had been in the high hundreds. "What do you want?"

"This idiot thought the child he forced upon the girl was a child of sin. One I need for the rest of the ritual. There was another I needed."

"Why do this?"

"I needed your attention somehow to bring you out and lead you to me. I knew you'd interrogate a human. You all don't kill. I knew I'd be able to get my last piece then by getting someone close. And by getting all of you involved, I knew that would also get the last piece of my puzzle involved."

I frowned, my heart beating faster. The body's grin tore the lips at the seams. When I finally understood what he meant, the beat stopped entirely. "Drago."


	20. Chapter 20

20.

I was sad to see the streets void of life that night. All the decorations that should have had life stood flat in the lawns. Now I knew exactly how North felt all those years ago. I was terrified. I saw Clara glance at me. "I'm fine."

"You don't have to lie."

"It makes me feel better." I kept my dual scythes in my hands held up and dormant behind me. The wind blew through the changing trees, making the mountains howl. A plastic skeleton hanging from a tree clunked its bones in the breeze. A chill went up my spine. "Something's wrong."

"I thought this creepy vibe thing was your turn on."

"Something else is wrong." A crunching leaf behind us made us both turn around, and Clara immediately had to leap back out of the way of a knife swing.

"You don't say?" She pulled out her broadswords as I readied my scythes.

"I didn't know it was THAT kind of wrong!" I ducked a swing from the Slasher, ramming the pommels of my scythes into his ashen jaw. "Into the woods. We need to get him off the streets. Stay close." I took off while the Slasher was disoriented. "Come on!" I checked to see if she was following at all times, making sure the crunching leaves were her and not the other one. We ran for a good ten minutes, and I prayed that he had not been absorbing the souls of runners.

"Hold on, hold on," Clara said behind me, almost breathless. I stopped and turned, seeing her hunched over, gripping her sides.

I gave her the chance to catch her breath and looked around, trying to find the best way to run next. We were so lost it wasn't funny.

"We'll get him. We just need to flank him. Calm down." She straightened, her chest still heaving.

My gaze only flicked away from her for a moment. In that moment, a figure appeared behind her arm raised. I had no time to even react before a resounding crack echoed in the woods. A thick fallen branch made contact against Clara's skull, knocking her out cold. I squeaked and jumped back, my gaze flickering between her and the Slasher. A trickle of blood started to stain her blonde hair. _Oh shit no._ I took a few steps back and readied my weapons as he turned his attention to me. His eyes glowed a vibrant purple before it started to growl.

"Come here little girl." He adjusted the grip on his branch and lunged at me, making me jump out of the way of a swing aimed for my head. I tried to retaliate, but the gash I put on his arm seemed to do nothing. He lunged again, but I found the swings easy enough to dodge. I just couldn't get close without him attacking. I couldn't find an opening, but I wasn't getting hit either.

_"I see I have to do everything myself."_

I knew that voice. Immediately I had to raise my guard as the swings became more precise. I had no idea what happened. His whole demeanor changed. The blows weren't random swipes anymore. I couldn't dodge in time as he caught my leg. Pain exploded from the contact and I crippled down on the ground immediately, my scythes flying from my grasp. I tried to get up, but the blinding pain washed over me as I tried to move. The Slasher tossed the trunk aside and took out his knife. I tried to get away but there was no chance. He hovered over me and thrust the butt of the knife into my solar plexus, making my vision go white. Before I could even recover from that, a sharp, tearing sensation rose from the flesh of my broken leg and I felt the cold metal of the knife deep in my leg, in places I didn't know had nerve endings. I shrieked as the pain hit all at once. I saw red rushing faster than it should have. He had gotten an artery. I didn't have the strength or the balance to toss him off.

Luckily I didn't have to. In the last few seconds of my sight, I saw Clara leap from out of nowhere, knocking the brute off me in a total wave of surprise. I managed to see her holding her own against a fight with him, with her getting hit pretty hard, before everything went black.

* * *

_What the hell is that? Wha—_ I hissed out a curse. _What hurts? Clara!_ "Clara!" I shot up and immediately gripped my thigh in agony, my teeth clenched on a scream. I couldn't remember…. The Slasher. He got me. Broke my leg. Clara, she had been hit pretty hard before me. I thought she was down for the count. She hit the bastard. That's the last thing I knew.

I looked around through the pain, trying to figure out where I was. A rich, earthy aroma met my senses, and my skin was cool and damp from the atmosphere. I laid on what felt like broom moss. I blinked a few times to clear my eyes. It looked like I was underground. The walls were pure earth, and thick tree roots shined through every so often. We were for sure not where I had passed out. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I saw Clara still unconscious on another bed of broom moss. "Clara!" I hissed at a dull pain in my abdomen, reminding me I had been struck there by the butt of a knife.

"Lie still," a light voice said.

I froze. "Who's there?" Before my eyes a figure began to rise from the ground, looking more and more familiar as it came. It took on the form of a girl. A girl with pale skin. A girl with black hair. I didn't know what to say as what was only a photograph to me before came to life. "I know you, don't I?"

She nodded. "From stories, I bet." She gave a sad smile and folded her hands over her robes. "I needed you awake before I could mend the rest of your wounds," she explained as she came closer. "This will hurt again, but you must lie back. I need to reset your bones. I already mended the bleeding. "

I was still too stunned to argue. She helped me lie back and I was entranced by the billowing sleeves of her dress. My mind exploded in pain as my thigh was forced to move. I growled out another curse.

"I said it would hurt."

Even the same attitude. If I hadn't been in so much pain I would have laughed. I took in sharp breaths and exhaled. It was almost like giving birth all over again. Not quite, but close enough on the pain scale. Only this time I didn't have a familiar set of hands to grip in agony. I almost cried in happiness as my back hit the moss. Then I remembered it wasn't over.

I met the woman's eye and nodded. There was no avoiding it. "I will heal it immediately after I set it. Bear with the pain."

I kept my gaze on where the light of a beautiful orange sun was setting, peaking through some of the earth. _Orange. I love the fiery colors… the blazing leaves, the laughing children. What will happen to me if there is no one to believe in the Spirit of Halloween? Would I fade away with the lack of excited children? Would I become mortal again? Would I die?_ I began to panic right as the woman set my leg in place. My mind went white with pain, and yet my heart still raced with the thought of losing everything. In a way, I went beyond pain. There was nothing. _If there is no one to believe, if they are too busy fearing for their lives…. I would- I would die. For real._ I couldn't breathe, both from the pain and the panic attack. I felt a cold sweat break over my body, and my mind was set to repeat on all the worries and fears I had.

The next thing I knew I was curled in a ball, cradled in the arms of a woman I had only seen in a picture. She was a comforting soul, just as I had imagined her to be. She was a better mother than I ever was. I had soothed bad nights, I had fixed worries, but nothing like this. It was something in her aura. I didn't have to use my center to see her beauty. It was there for all to see.

It took some time, but I managed to rein in my fears. The whole time she had been quiet and patient. I couldn't help but laugh. "This is so weird."

To my utter surprise, she laughed too, but didn't let go. "We'd make a fortune on a reality TV show, right? My father's dating a girl centuries younger than me, and I can't even count how many greats I am as a half sister."

I laughed around a remaining sob and pulled back, rubbing at my eyes and looking at her kind smile. "Yeah. Dysfunctional family much? Am I even old enough to be your step-mother?"

She shrugged. "We'll accept it. Whatever makes Father happy." She caught my gaze. "How is he?"

"You could come find out, you know. And see your brother."

She gave another sad smile. "I can't. You know I can't."

It was worth a shot. "What do you know about all this?"

"The balance is shifting dangerously away from both the side of good things and the side of bad. A third side is forming."

I frowned. "A third side? What is it?"

"I do not know. But it is an intimidating force, one as old as I. I may have to intervene."

From what I understood, she was the true keeper of the balance. North merely monitored it, while I monitored the negative. She stayed true to her oath to be neutral in everything. She only intervened when absolutely necessary. "Do what you have to do." I looked over at Clara. "How is she?"

"Lost a lot of blood, but she is fine now. When she wakes you may leave." She stood again.

"If I don't see you again, thank you. And… what should I tell him?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Tell him… tell him he's forgiven, for making me wait all those years ago. He'll understand what it means."

I nodded. "Will do." She vanished into the ground, taking with her the overall calming aura of the place. A few moments of forest noises went by uninterrupted, and I enjoyed the break from the terror of the world. Everything was still going as smoothly as ever, surprisingly enough. We only had one more person to stop, and then we were done. Halloween could continue on as if nothing had happened, and I would still stay in existence. I looked to my leg and saw a nasty bruise, but I didn't feel it at all. I slowly accepted it, realizing it could have been much worse.

I glanced over to Clara as she groaned and sat up, a hand to her head. "Why do I feel like someone clocked me with a hammer?"

"Someone did clock you with a tree branch the size of my leg."

"That explains it." She rubbed her neck and looked around. "Where are we? Last thing I remembered was some weird green thing covering us and then I was out."

"We're in a safe place. But we should be getting back. I don't know how much time has passed." I held up a hand as she stood. "Did you burn the body?"

"Yes. It was the last thing I did before my body gave out." She put her hands on her hips. "Let's make sure my husband didn't get himself killed. I delivered toys once, and that was more than enough." She pulled an orb from a small satchel at her hip and said "North Pole" before tossing it forward.

I gave one last look to the room as Clara waited for me. "Thank you, Emily Jane." I felt a warm touch that I interpreted as a response. Satisfied, I followed Clara through the portal. I barely made it through before a figure collided with me and held on to my arms just as quickly.

"Hana?"

I gave Pitch a look of pure confusion as his grip tightened subtly, his way of conveying something was wrong. "What happened? Did Jason say something?" My eyes widened as he started looking me over, his eyes resting on each visible bruise, especially the one on my thigh, under my now-torn tights. "What happened?"

"He was right. Your leg was shattered."

He was starting to scare me. What added to the fear was the fact he was scared. Not many things could rattle the Boogeyman's cage like this. "What happened?" The portal closed behind me and I noticed Clara looking on, concerned.

His hands grabbed mine. "I need you to think very clearly. Try to remember. Did you see Drago just now? Anywhere at all."

I frowned and shook my head. "No, no, I just saw you. Why? What's going on?" Then it clicked. He was scared, he had asked me if I had seen our son. He looked winded, strained, and furious. It was too much. I gripped his coat and felt ill.

"Stay with me." He sat me down while Clara ordered the yetis to fetch something. Anything. He gave my cheeks a few light slaps. "We haven't lost yet. He's fine." He told me everything Jason had revealed, and everything Charon added on. He had just been on his way to the main hall when I came back. He had already looked all over the Pole, and the yetis had looked as well. Despite their feelings towards the Boogeyman, they were still more than willing to help Drago. No one had found a trace of him. Even Jamie had been left alone. He had been found staying with Jessica to keep her company.

That asshole had thought of everything and set it all in motion months ago. I ran my hand through my hair and gave a shaky laugh. "So that's it? End of the world? And our son is the keystone?"

"A child of sin. Yes. But there is time. He's not lost."

"I know he's not. We're not letting this thing live." I stood and he followed me. I ignored the rush of blood that left my head. "Do we know where he is?"

"No. He used an astral projection to communicate through the body. I can't trace that."

"It's dead vibes, right?"

He arched a brow. "Necromancy, yes."

I grinned. "Right up my alley. Momma bear has shit on me."

He was about to say something, but his gaze fell to my leg. "If your bone was shattered, how are you walking?"

I bit my lip. "Someone healed me. A young girl. Pale. Black hair. Beautiful greens eyes she might have inherited from her father." I noticed a subtle change in his expression. "She had a message for you. She told me to say she forgives you."

A multitude of emotions passed over his face for the briefest of seconds before he nodded and turned away. He cleared his throat. "Jason was kept this way. Clara, stay here until the others return."

" _Da."_

He led me down a series of hallways, both of us keeping silent as we walked. I don't think either of us had anything to say. What could be said? I think I was still in shock. I felt nothing, still comprehending the news that my son had been taken away by forces of the dead. I barely noticed him take a turn down another hallway, this one darker as all sources of light were cut off from the main atrium of the building. This one was lit by candles. Where one torch was missing, a door stood open.

I shivered as I felt the residual power from where we were. It only grew stronger as we got closer to the open room. "This might not be as difficult as I thought it would be." I looked at the body and curled my lip. "Charming."

"They're best read fresh, as morbid as it sounds."

I nodded and knelt in front of the body. The kid was stupid, but he didn't deserve this. I shivered at the awkward angle so close up. I took a deep breath and swallowed. I broke through my hesitation and put my fingers to the skull of the kid, tapping into his memories.

_Just a normal high school bullied kid. He still believed in the Guardians. He had seen them all one night in Burgess, at a time where he almost didn't believe. He carried the belief to college, and so the teasing followed. He dabbled in dark arts, and was approached by a man claiming to be Charon. The man could teach him to summon beings to do his bidding. His mind was opened to the darkness, though it consumed him. He had no control over it. It changed him. He only wanted to serve his master Charon and their Lord. From the memories, I found the location he would meet Charon. It was in an abandoned house in the historic district of Burgess. I also found the intentions. Charon was not a man, but a demon. He needed a lot of sacrificial blood to open the gates of Death's fortress. Jason was able to provide that through his necromancy skills, and his idea of raising serial killers._

_They almost had the blood. They were missing one other ingredient. The heart of a child born in sin._

I couldn't hold my composure any longer. I was shaking too hard. I pulled away from the body and quickly stood, stalking to the other side of the room. I held a hand over my mouth, regulating my breathing.

"I told him to stay upstairs. He rebelled and followed. He saw my real shape. He ran off. I thought Jack would find him. I never imagined—"

"It doesn't matter," I said quickly and took a few more breaths to calm down. "It doesn't matter. We were all made to look ridiculous. We didn't think anything of it when he said child of sin. Jessica's daughter seemed the perfect fit for the description. I didn't even think… Why do they need a child like that?"

He shook his head. "I don't know the ritual details. Take solace. He's had combat training since he was five for this exact situation. He may have been taken, but I'm sure not without severing a few limbs."

"But why Drago? He wasn't born of sin. We both wanted him. We didn't do any devil worship to make my body function again. So why him?"

"He shouldn't exist."

I spun around, seeing the last woman I wanted to see standing in the middle of the room, hands on her hips, her scythe resting against her shoulder.

"You died." Lady Death nodded towards Pitch. "He still hasn't. He could produce heirs with whomever he wanted, but you shouldn't have been able to do so." She pulled a nerve and she knew it. I hated the smug smirk that took over her face. "I'm only speaking the truth."

"Speak the rest and get out."

"I'm just as pissed about this whole thing as you. If these people plan to bring the dead to life, then my job is obsolete. I can't have that. What would I do in the meantime?" Her eyes traveled to Pitch again and I snapped my fingers in her face while he curled his lip.

"So why come here?"

"Because of you. You're the reason the dead will rise again. You defied fate by taking that gift." Her smirk only broadened. "You can't cheat me, dearest. Not completely. Tell me Hana, what is considered a sin?"

"Something dark that a person does when they stray from the path of their god."

"Dark things. Temptations. Creatures of temptation. Creatures of evil. Evil nights. You two are the manifestations of sin. He as a soulless shadow and you as a Spirit of Halloween, when the realms are connected, and all the evil can slip through if not watched. The icons of horror and dread." She clasped her hands together. "Put those two creatures together with the option of having a baby and what do you get? The absolute pure manifestation of sin itself. Your son." Her eyes narrowed. "A pathetic boy though. Maybe the necromancer should use him. It would be doing the world a favor. Getting rid of one of its mistakes."

I could barely see as she started circling around me. I wouldn't snap. I wouldn't.

Until she spoke again, only low enough for me to hear. "And then there would be one more mistake to wipe out, witch."

I bobbed my head a few times, as if assessing her words. Without warning I bent down and swooped the shadows up to bind Lady Death and throw her into the farthest wall so I could pick up momentum. I let her slide down the wall as she came to a rest next to former Jason. I used the shadows to bind her to the same steel hoop jammed into the wall.

I turned and stalked out of the room, needing to get as far away from that room as possible. I didn't need to add murder on to my list of new experiences. Could you even murder Death? If I couldn't, I could at least torture her. Pleasant ideas filled my head but I shook them off. I knew where we had to go, and the sooner we left, the sooner it would all be over.

* * *

I hadn't expected her to stay calm for so long. Which is why when she lashed out with her shadows it didn't come as a shock. As I had said before, Death had never accepted what had happened. It clouded her judgment horribly. She knew Hana could be very dangerous if she chose to be. I had made sure she would be able to hold her own most of the time. I had also taught her to get out of a situation if she couldn't win.

In this, she had done both, and I was only surprised that she didn't attempt to kill Death. It wasn't possible, of course, but that didn't mean she couldn't feel pain. She also knew that I wouldn't hesitate to strike her if she said such things to me. Why she continued to antagonize us both I probably would never understand.

"You look like a man into bondage." I looked to Death, seeing her hiking up her dress with her legs. I rolled my eyes and moved to the door. "Wait, are you really going to leave me in here? With the corpse?"

"You need time alone to cool down. Think of him as your therapist. He's a really great listener. Doesn't say much, but you might learn something."

"You can't do this."

I looked up to the ceiling and pulled a thoughtful look. "Ah, yes, I think I can." I pointed to the torch. "And to really get your mind moving…" I removed the fire from the torch, letting the only light come from the hallway. "I'll try to remember to have a yeti come fetch you when you've had ample time to think. Your reapers should be fine without you for a few days."

"Just make sure she doesn't meet the same fate as your wife." She quirked a brow. "Now that'd be such a shame."

I had been in the process of shutting the door when I froze.

"She says hello by the way. And that she approves of the life you're leading. Most of the time." She sneered. "Happy lovey dovey shit. She says you should have another baby. A girl." The sneer turned into a grin. "And name it Emma. So close to the original, isn't it?"

I was going to let her go. I really was. I was going to let her stay in the dark with a decaying boy and that would have been it. I shook my head, smiling. "Deidra, what's the one thing you should never do to the Boogeyman?"

Her mouth moved a few times, but only a small squeak came out.

My shape slipped and tendrils held her head back, kept her eyes open. "You should never piss him off. There are things worse than death." I spread the fingers of my right hand down the middle, two on each side. I hovered them right in front of her eyes, now shaking in fear. I held down the rest of her twitching body with more tendrils. "Hold still. This will only hurt for a moment." I chuckled. "But then again, I'm a known liar." I shoved my fingers through her eyes, letting them phase through her skin upon contact. I accessed her brain directly, manipulating her consciousness, putting her under immediately. I then tampered with her dreams. I made it a nightmare. I made a continuous line of tiny Nightmares, one for each inhale of breath to cycle until we decided enough was enough.

I plunged the room in darkness and made a mental note to try my hardest to not forget which door she was behind.

But then again, I am old. Things did tend to slip my mind. I smiled in satisfaction as a scream of pure terror came from the room, muffled but still piercing. I do love the screams…

I slipped through the shadows to return to the atrium, finding everyone had returned.

"I think I know where they are." She took a crystal from her pocket, enlarging it and the shadow inside. She activated the shadows, and they gave way to the image of a nice old church. "From Jason's memories, this is where they met. I was able to touch some of Charon's memories too, which confirms the location." She looked around. "You don't have to help any further if you do not wish. I know the past—"

"The past is past," North said, and I couldn't help but stare at him. He was one of the enemies I held the longest, and here he was, saying to let go of the past. It probably helped that I hadn't turned that girl so long ago, and had let her become her Mother Goose icon. If it hadn't been for my help, that never-aging boy would still be a boy, and not an ageless man with his one true love. North would have never found Clara on one of his adventures. Jack would have never become a blasted Guardian. Hana would have never come back. Drago would have never been born. I would have never heard a form of forgiveness from my daughter.

Despite how horrible I had been to everyone in the past, without my darkness, they would not have their lights. And I would not have mine. _She approves of the life you're leading._ I grinned in my head, leaning against the closest pillar, just watching Hana move as she talked. She had a way with speaking with her hands, that one would say she really was Italian. I could still feel her fear as she tried to mask it, but it was starting to give way to hope. It was something I typically rolled my eyes at, but this time, I wanted to believe. It was better than nothing.

I was more amazed that they wanted to help. But when I thought of it, Drago was a known charmer. For a child that was the manifestation of sin, he did not act it. As a baby he acted no different than any infant. He was polite, and always meant well. It was no wonder they wanted to help him.

"We'll leave immediately," Hana continued. "The Void would be the fastest way to get there. You'll all need some form of shadow clothing or something to keep in control of where you're standing. Saddle up what you have and be ready to leave immediately. We can't afford to give him the time to get the rest of the parts of the ritual." She moved to the broad empty space on that level and summoned Hessian, patting his muzzle and pressing her forehead to it, her horns peaking on both sides. The strong stallion snorted and gently nosed her. She wasn't as fine as she was trying to fool us into thinking she was. I was amazed she had held herself together at all. But then I remembered. She held herself together around others. She didn't tend to show if things bothered her. If anything slipped through her façade, she would brush it off as nothing.

On the inside, she was screaming and she had no way to hide to let it out, she had no time. While the others dispersed to gather their wares, I approached her as she gently stroked the glowing skeletal pattern in Hessians's fur. I stood behind her and tipped her into my arms. I pulled us into the shadows so she was curled against me in a realm no one else could intrude upon.

In this realm she could let it go while I kept her safe. As I let her break, I thought of all the things I would do to Charon. Each one would make what I did to Death seem merciful. Only one other man had made the mistake to threaten my family. And I severed his head from his body. That was before I had become a Dream Pirate. A Nightmare King. Before I learned all the delicious ways to torture someone to get the best screams of terror without even touching them.

No, a nightmare he could never wake from would be too merciful. He deserved much, much worse. And I would spend my time fleshing out the best punishment I could. In the meantime, I let her wrap her arms around my neck tightly, feeling her whole body shudder before completely breaking.

"We'll find him," I muttered. I needed to hope. "He'll be fine. I promise." Could I promise that? Regardless, I spent the rest of the time we had to spare calming her down. And I spent the time hoping they would come true.


	21. Chapter 21

****

21.

We emerged from the Void in the general area of the signal pulse. I pulled on Hessian's reigns as the others slowed to a halt, either on foot, on horse, or on a creature made of golden sand. A shift in the air sent a chill down my spine. It wasn't just the change in temperature as we emerged somewhere in the Czech Republic. Something was coming.

"Very clever."

I glanced at Pitch as he glared at the church before us, on the other side of a low wall. Onyx shifted uncomfortably below him and snorted. "What is this place?" Tooth asked, hovering by me.

"The Sedlec Ossuary."

I understood his unease immediately. The Sedlec Ossuary was a church with a very unique theme. All the adornments inside were the remains of 40,000 victims of the plague. The ossuary was made to house the bodies the families would bring to rest at the soil, since the bishop of the church at that time had infused the soil of the church cemetery with that of the soil from in the resting place of Jesus in Jerusalem. There were too many bodies, and so they were placed in the ossuary. Three hundred years later, the family who owned the church had someone use the bodies to create what we have today. The House of 40,000 Corpses, Sedlec Ossuary, The Church of Bones.

I had always wanted to visit it. I had seen pictures, but I could never find the time to come. I would have had plenty of time to just view and observe it, but I wanted to see the stories of the 40,000. As many as I could. When I could control tapping into the bones, the stories were pleasant. I could sift through what I wanted to see and what I didn't. In the case of the bones found in Washington, that had been an unexpected connection, and I wasn't ready for the bombardment of memories. Especially not as fresh and painful. However, even old bones like the ones inside the church could be overwhelming if I didn't handle it right.

Bunny's ears swiveled forward and he jumped ahead, his nose twitching. "Something's not right." He grabbed his boomerangs.

We each dismounted our steeds, clasping weapons in our hands. Through the dark streets across the way, I heard the slow creak of a gate opening, sending a shiver up my spine. I gripped on to my scythes as I heard growling rumbles and shuffling footsteps.

"And here I was thinking zombies would be the perfect addition to this," Jack muttered.

I nodded. "To quote an old Resident Evil film, aim for the head."

"It would only waste time," Bunny said while Sandy looked between us and the approaching walking corpses. "This is a distraction, and you know it. Get your boy. We'll keep the wankers busy." He nodded to Jack. "Help me make a hole."

We watched the zombies pile in to the street in front of us, on the other side of the low wall. If it was a distraction as Bunny suggested, then Charon knew we were there. I just hoped he wouldn't think of our idea.

Jack and Bunny rushed forward, taking out as many of them as they could down the center as they jumped over the wall. Jack froze them all and Bunny swung his boomerang through the heads, shattering them. I ran after them, not bothering to see if Pitch was following. They pushed through to the front door and the others took up the rear, knocking out any that fell in. Bunny jumped ahead and opened the door, ushering us inside. The silence and atmosphere that fell over us once the doors closed behind us was unsettling. I was too awestruck with the sight laid out before me to notice for a moment. It was morbid yes, but more beautiful than I could have imagined. Everything was aligned so intentionally and creatively, at any other moment in time I could have loved to spend ages admiring every bone. I kept my scythes at my sides as Pitch kept his large one in his hand.

He motioned forward and we used light steps over the stone floors. The walls were lined with skulls, and I made it an effort to keep some distance from them, using the dim light of thousands of candles to see. Muttering caught our ears and we slowed our steps as the edges of the infamous chandelier came into view. The muttering was in a language long since lost to the human race, one I stood no chance of knowing. He held on to my shoulders and shifted quietly away, keeping to the wall, indicating I stay there. He looked around the edge and I saw him tense up. Against his better judgment I stood by his side, looking into the main chambers. I had to put a hand to my mouth to keep silent as I saw my baby on an altar in the far side of the chamber, unconscious. A man whose back was to us was muttering in the dead language, and unsettling vibrations were emanating from the two. On the floor, under the chandelier, something had been carved. Something like a circular maze. In its center was a hole leading somewhere. Red liquid seeped around the maze, pushed along by the magic.

He gripped my upper arms and tugged me back behind the wall, into the other chamber.

I took a stabling breath. "What do we do?" I whispered, hating how my rasp was showing in full.

"He doesn't need to know we both came in," he muttered just as quiet. "Keep to the shadows. I'll keep his focus. Grab Drago the moment you have a clear shot to get away. We'll get out of this mess with as little injuries as we can."

I nodded and sank into the shadows, keeping to the darkest parts of the chambers. Luckily as a shadow I didn't have to be cautious of touching the bones. He had made a good call to not rush the necromancer. On the other side of the wall we had hidden behind, a large corpse stood, an axe in hand.

"Charon!"

The chanting stopped and I looked in time to see the figure turn. The man chuckled and dropped his hood as Pitch rounded the corner, once again unarmed. Imagine my surprise when a normal-looking human peered back. I had expected something more warped, more demonic. Charon looked like a typical man in his forties. Graying hair, lines in his skin. However, his eyes were yellow. This time, encased in black sclera. "I'm surprised you found me so quickly, Mr. Black. Only ten hours. Plus the time zone difference—"

"I'm here to collect my son." He kept his arms crossed over his chest. "Stop while you're ahead Charon. You're pissing off far more people than you know."

Charon only continued to grin and called off the guard corpse. It resumed a neutral posture while the man continued. "I do know. But it is the right time to rule as I was meant to for thousands of years." He lifted his decorated staff and struck the stone floors. "I have guarded the necromancy secrets all my life. And now it is paying off. The humans will be my people. As they should be." He swept his free hand towards Drago, still shrouded in shifting magic. "All it took was the bodies of 40,000 and the key to obtain." He glanced up, and my form sat stock still. "Once I found this place, it was only a matter of finding the lifeforce to match the bodies. Some of these souls have moved on. Most haven't. That's where the necromancers came in. And their revenants. The boy had a wise idea with recruiting the serial killers. They gave me the boost I needed once I found my key." The hand closest to Drago flexed and my boy began to flinch in pain, still sleeping. "My only problem is figuring out how to use him."

Pitch took a threatening step forward but stopped short as Drago's pain seemed to increase. He nodded and held up his hands. "If you need him, he doesn't need to be hurt."

I shifted towards the back of the chamber, keeping watch on both the corpse guard and on Charon. The man grinned. "Oh I think he does. I never thought there would be a day the Boogeyman would have a weakness. This is too rich to pass away. Now if only his mother were here to submit as well. Tell me, how good is she at that?"

Faster than I could blink Pitch vanished and reappeared beside Charon, clocking him in the jaw so hard he fell away from the altar. It gave me the opportunity to pull out of the shadows beside my son. "Drago? Honey? Come on, wake up. We have to go." I shook his shoulders and lightly slapped his cheeks, starting to panic as he wouldn't wake up. I looked around as I saw Pitch expertly fending off the man and the corpse with two black swords. "Come on, please."

I almost started laughing as the boy groaned and opened his pale yellow eyes. "Mom?"

"Oh my…" I pulled him up into my arms as I kept kneeling beside him. I pulled back, holding on to his shoulders. "Don't ever run off like that again."

"He won't."

I looked to the voice, but had no time to react as my arms were pinned to my sides by magic and I was torn from my son, lifted from the ground.

"I've heard a rumor about the Spirit of Halloween. I want to test it out."

My heart stopped as I was pushed back into a coat of arms made entirely out of bones. I could hear Drago's terrified shout as the bones made contact with my skin. Instantly memories overran my senses. All of them the last memories of each victim found in the coat. All of their last worries. _I cheated on my wife and never told her; I'll never get to give her that ring now; Mommy, I don't understand. It hurts Mommy; Who will take care of my son? He's still so young; Why is my husband not here? I'm alone; I'm scared; I'm_ scared; I'm scared and alone;

* * *

The comment struck a nerve I hadn't expected and I moved on reflex. Which was probably how I was able to break his concentration and get him away from Drago long enough for Hana to drop down. I abandoned the idea of the scythe and formed two swords from my sands. Having a mastery in all forms of weapons came in handy from time to time. I blocked and parried a blow from the corpse and dodged a swing of Charon's staff as I knocked the axe away. I only needed to give her enough time to get the boy and go. I danced around the two in chamber, avoiding landing blows on the skeletons that would leave noticeable damage. I ducked and swerved, retaliated and landed hits, but none landed as spectacularly as the blow that took the corpse's arms. Without his arms, he couldn't block the rest of my attacks, and I was able to sever his head from the body, leaving him still once more.

Charon growled and extended his hand to me. Invisible bindings held me in place on the ground. I couldn't move. In my sight was the alter, and I saw Hana had woken Drago. The same magic held her, but tossed her back into the coat of arms. It held her there, which made me realize he knew that double-edged talent of hers. I fought against the magic.

"Charon. Stop." Drago shouted out and I winced against the magic's tight hold. I could see her face contorted in pain as the boy kept shouting. "It's enough, Charon. You'll kill her!"

He shrugged, never looking back at me. Instead he approached Drago, dragging me along with the magic. "You see, boy? Your parents have no hope of surviving me. What do you have they do not possess?" He finally let Hana fall from the sigil and let her go limp on the floor.

Through everything going on in the church, I narrowed my eyes at the boy as he had gone still and quiet, kneeling on the stone floor. He hadn't even flinched as Hana had returned right in front of him.

"Answer me, boy. I want to hear you surrender before you help me take my birthright."

He muttered something we couldn't hear and he stopped himself.

"What was that?"

"I said, I am Drago Black. I am the son of Halloween and the Boogeyman." His shape started to slip, something I had never seen it do before. Right in front of my eyes he began to unravel, becoming snapping tendrils of shadow. The magic holding me faltered and I fell to my feet. I took the chance to get away. I slipped through the shadows, feeling they had changed somehow. I formed behind Hana, trying to bring her back to consciousness. I kept my eyes on Drago, or what used to be him. I almost hesitated in waking Hana as the mass of shadows opened multiple yellow eyes at once, and a large jaw unhinged, a hiss slipping from it. "I am Sin."

The shadows grew as I took Hana's hand, still trying to revive her and bring her back to herself. She was sifting through a lot of memories, trying to recover her own. I couldn't drop my guard to help her this time.

Charon tried shooting magic through his staff as Drago's shadows advanced on the man, but the pressure had no effect. "I'm meant to rule you!"

"A prince is ruled by his king. And you are not my king." The tendrils shot forward, taking the staff from Charon's grip and snapping it. They then snatched up the man, keeping him in a solid grip. "As Sin, there is one skill I possess my parents do not. I can take away the wicked."

Charon fought in his grasp, keeping me stunned at my son's use of his own abilities. "You are a child. You couldn't possibly hold that much power."

"I don't. But it's enough." He squeezed a bit tighter, making air release from Charon's lungs. He went quiet and still for a moment, besides the motion of the shadows.

For once, I was powerless, and wasn't sure what to feel. The only thing I knew was things wouldn't be the same ever again. There was nothing I could do for him.

"Dad, I know what I have to do. Take Mom and get out of here. The spell would take you too and spread out the effect."

I frowned. "What spell?"

"Judgment." The shadows moved as if he were shaking his head. "While I was unconscious, someone showed me how. He was a nice man, bald too. He said he had one more wish to grant."

I finally understood. "You don't have to—"

"Yes I do. I'm the only one. The man showed me that." The head turned back to Charon. "I understand what it means. I understand it all. It's something I have to do, and it has to be now."

I picked Hana up as she started to wake. She looked over to the mass and shifted back in slight fear. "Drago?"

"Please don't be mad, Mommy. I know what I'm doing."

As he absorbed a screaming Charon into his shadows, he opened a Void portal under us, booting us out of the church.


	22. Chapter 22

22.

We emerged on the grass, right in the middle of the battle that came to an abrupt halt. In mid-swing for everyone the corpses stopped moving and dropped, lifeless once again. The night air stilled and calmed once more.

I started fighting against his grip. "We need to go get him."

"It's too late."

I clenched my teeth together, feeling myself breaking. "The hell it is. We didn't do all this in vain. Let me go."

"Accept it. The ability was too much for him. He knew." The words stung, but I knew they pained him just as much to say by the way his grip increased.

The others approached once they were certain the corpses were down for good. I kept my gaze focused on the church as Pitch repeated what had happened. I heard a few reactions from Clara and Tooth, but nothing more. The form that Drago had… That was the form he would only have when he had stripped himself bare of the humanity inside of him. It was the form Pitch had refused to let me ever see, and he had been the one to introduce me to horrors that would give the mortal mind nightmares on the thoughts alone. On Drago, it seemed wrong. He wasn't Sin. He was my baby. He wasn't able to use his powers to damn a soul to Lucifer's domain. Neither of us had the ability to do something like that. There would have been no way for him to even think about the skill. He was still so young to think of such things on his own. Manny couldn't have told him…

Manny.

Manny had known all along.

I grew furious and pushed at Pitch's shoulders, standing up and turning on North. "Call him."

He looked confused, just as the others. "Who-"

"The Man in the Ever-Foreseeing Moon." Tears stung at my eyes and I swallowed a forming lump in my throat. "I know you can call him. You're the only one who can among us."

"Hana, I don't—"

"He saw this happen!" I didn't know what to do. I was so furious, so distraught. "Eleven years ago, he gave me back my ability to have children. I thought nothing of it. I thought he was granting a wish, like he's supposed to do." I swallowed again, clenching and unclenching my fists. Once I realize what I was doing I gripped onto my arms and looked away from North. "He saw this coming. He saw Charon in motion. He knew Drago would be the key to Charon's success, and his defeat." I licked my dry lips and tried to sooth my raw throat. I was beginning to realize the others putting it all together. "So please. I'd like to have a word with the man who made my son a martyr."

* * *

The relocated Lamadary was a place few had the chance to see, even for our realm. North was a welcomed friend of the Lamas, as was Bunny, Tooth and Sandy. Even Clara was accepted, just not as heartily. Only Jack and myself were viewed as outsiders. Pitch was another story entirely. If he was looked at, it was with such scorn I had never thought possible of such a peaceful race. It took a lot of convincing from the others to let us in, and even more to let us near a large gong. One of the geese honked in Pitch's direction, effectively startling him, myself, and Jack as we took up the rear.

"Ever have that feeling where you aren't welcome?" Jack muttered, relaxing the hold on his staff again as we caught up to the others.

We were all placed in front of the gong, and a Lama who looked slightly different from the others came forward to strike it. Immediately it shimmered and became clear, showing us what Manny really looked like, for those of us who had never physically seen him before.

He gave a sad smile. "I know what this is about, and I truly am sorry. I had no other choice." Before I could speak he interrupted me, making me angrier. "The only other way he could have been stopped was through Lucifer's power. I didn't think that was the best option for us all."

"You gave me my wish after all those centuries of asking," I said, the pain spreading through my chest. It hurt to breathe. "Was it only because it would be advantageous to you now? Was it because you saw this happen?" My throat hurt as another thought crossed my mind. "Is that why I'm alive today?"

His smile grew sadder, if possible. "You always were clever." He gave a quick motion to something off the screen. "Everything happens for a reason, Serah. Some things only needed to be added to make it work."

My legs felt weak. "I-I thought I was brought back to take care of Halloween, to keep it alive."

He nodded. "You were. That and more. You fit the role perfectly, just as Jack does his role with such precision." He folded his hands together in front of him. "It was something that had to be done. I tried helping him strengthen his skill while I could, to better his chances."

I scoffed. I wanted to fade away from existence. It was too much.

"You are not the only ones with connections to the darkness, Serah."

Everything stopped. The pain, both physical and emotional, everything vanished. The next thing I knew I was being hugged around the middle. Nothing else mattered as my brain processed what was happening.

"I told you not to be mad."

I looked down and saw a familiar head of shaggy black hair. Unable to believe my eyes I dropped down and held on to his shoulders, pulling him into my arms as his pale yellow eyes and bright smile met my gaze. "How…" Another set of arms joined us as I looked back to Manny.

His smile had brightened. "There is a dark side of the moon. A single area of absolute darkness, where no light can penetrate the surface. I created a moonshadow from that, and sent it to help bring Drago back to his solid self, and brought him here, where I knew you'd come looking for him."

I couldn't help but smile as said moonshadow made its presence known, hovering in front of me. "You really know how to grant a wish."

He chuckled, and all my anger, my distress, it melted away. "Let's say I enjoy happy endings over sad ones." He folded his arms over his chest. "Now go home. All of you. You've done it once again, and saved the human race. Well done, my Guardians."

I frowned and looked at Pitch. "But we're not—"

"Even the Guardians can use consultants," Manny answered with a wink. "Now I believe you have a holiday to prepare for in eleven days. Hope it's a real scream." The gong faded back to nothing, leaving us in an odd sort of silence.

"So, I guess I have a new pet then," Drago said between us, breaking the quiet.

Pitch was the first one to laugh. "I'm not taking care of it. I already take care of your horse!"

I giggled as well. "That's nothing, I have to take care of both of you!"

"Oh, that stung." He looked back to the boy. "What did you even do?"

We were all interested in what had happened when he had thrown us out. "The thing is something Manny said I could do to really bad people when they needed it. When they harmed me or my family, or wanted to harm others. I could give them the punishment they deserved." He pulled back a bit. "But the ability spreads to all the bad things by me. If I wanted it to work, it needed to all go to Charon." He took a breath as the others listened on. "I sucked up his sins, something that would drain his own powers. But at the same time it takes a lot of mine to do. Without the moonshadow to help me…" He trailed off and I nodded.

"You don't need to say more."

North touched our shoulders. "Think it's time we go home. It seems there is much to talk about for many."

Much didn't even begin to cover it.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is where the story ends. I'll keep posting one shots in the "Where it All Began" fic as they come, but I will be mainly switching my focus to my new project, an original series called the Hellhound Chronicles. I thank you all for the support through this, and for loving Hana and Drago's characters so much.  
> Update 1/12/2014: There is another story that I've started, called "Show Me That Glasgow Smile", set eight years after this one. Be sure to look for it, and thank you for being amazing readers. Reviews are still lovely, as well as favorites. I like knowing what effect I've had on you guys, good or bad. :)

**Epilogue**

"Dad, did you see that? Oh wow, they're still running!"

"There's more coming this way. You'd best prepare for them."

Drago nodded and resumed his place in the tree of a park children were occasionally cutting through on their excursions that Halloween. Even after he hid himself I could still faintly hear the screams of his last victims.

I observed from the playground out of sight, having just found the two after my last full rounds. My Shadowbats were keeping the rest of the world in check, as they usually did, leaving the rest of my Halloween night open. I smiled in pride as Drago emerged from the shadows of the tree trunk while a group of kids around his age passed by. They were ogling their loot for the night, discussing trading options when they returned home. Once they saw the shadows move from the tree and growl at them, they each screamed and ran the opposite direction.

I gripped on the vertical bar next to me as Pitch spoke to my right. "You've been quiet the past two days. Usually if I make a quip you're down my throat this time of year. The last time you were this quiet you were pregnant with Drago and too terrified to tell me." I looked at him with a bemused smirk. "You're pregnant again, aren't you?"

I shoved at his shoulder as he sat down next to me on the lower platform of the jungle gym. "Despite how oh-so careful we are, no, I'm not." I smiled at his chuckle, keeping my sight on Drago. "There are some things no one bothered to mention I'd go through as a mom."

"Not everyone has the exciting lives we do."

I listened to Drago laugh as he played pranks on a group of girls, plucking one's cat ears from her head. "I don't know about you, but I'm good without the excitement for awhile. A hundred years of silence would be nice." I hefted one of my legs up onto the platform, hugging it and resting my chin to my knee. "How did you do it?"

"What?"

"Be a military father? Be away from your family all the time in wars, not knowing if you'd see them again."

He didn't answer right away. The group of girls below the tree Drago was in were braver than the boys so far, and were chattering rushed and high amongst themselves as to what sort of spooky thing was happening to it and trying to rationalize it. "I didn't."

I frowned and saw he had cast his gaze forward as well. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't cope well with it. I just hid it very well. An enemy cannot know your weakness. We saw why not with him." His eyes flicked down. "Every time I had to leave was like a small death. None of us liked it, but it was our duty. There was always some miniscule chance the battles would come home, but we were more at risk in the stars than the families." He shifted a bit. "I became reckless when I thought them both dead. If the past has shown me anything, it's that I never would be able to handle something like that again. I couldn't survive that again." He put an arm around my shoulder, tipping me into him. "This life did teach me to expect anything in the ways of parenting."

"I don't think something like this was in that manual though."

"There's a manual?"

I pressed my face into his neck and let out an amused groan. "Don't I wish?" I looked back at Drago as the girls screamed and parted while he slithered out in a form most similar to a black snake. All but one, that is. I frowned and sat up straight as the girl fell on her ass in fear. "Something's up."

"He's a grown boy. He can handle it." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Though we could slip closer to hear how he does so."

We shifted closer through the shadows and hid behind another close by tree. We kept silent and still as Drago shifted back to his solid state and offered to help the girl.

She frowned at his body and hesitantly took his hand. "Aren't you a little young to be the Boogeyman?"

Drago chuckled remarkably like his father. "No, but I am young enough to be his son." Once she was back on her feet, he shook her hand like a gentleman. "I'm Drago Black. I'm sorry for scaring you. It's just…" He shrugged. "Well, it's what the Black family does."

I gave a soft hum of approval, even though I didn't exactly share the last name.

"My name is Chloe Hunter. And, ah," she looked around while she adjusted her cat costume, making me realize she was the one he had taken the ears from, "between, you and me, I wasn't that scared."

He grinned. "You were too. I felt it. You fell for real." His grin faded and he became puzzled. "Are all girls like you?"

I heard Pitch groan and I put my hand to my eyes. There was our son, the smooth operator. Nothing like his father in that department. More like me the night I absorbed a bit too much fear and I tried to roll off of Pitch to get under him and in my hazed state, rolled right off the bed. That kind of smooth operator was what our son was.

Chloe looked at him as if he had two heads, but still laughed. "You're a strange one, aren't you? Don't you talk to humans much?"

"Not really, no."

Her expression faded to a sly grin. "Ever talk to a girl human before?"

"N-not that I can recall."

I almost wanted to laugh at my son's face as it turned from confused to petrified in an instant as the girl got closer to his still form.

"That's a shame," she said. "You really should look me up when you grow up a bit more, Drago." She bent and kissed his cheek, leaving an imprint of black lipstick on his ashen cheek. Before he could comprehend what had happened, she grabbed her bag and retreated to where her friends had started to call out for her, a slight giggle fading away with her.

We stood behind him as he still tried to grasp what had happened. "She seemed nice," I said, crossing my arms. Drago jumped and turned around. "So when do we meet her parents?"

His skin flushed as his moonshadow escaped the tree as well. "S-she's just a stupid girl." He rubbed at his cheek roughly with his sweater as the shadow circled overhead. "No offense, Mom."

"None taken. That is, of course, if you head off to bed without argument. It's almost dawn in Italy."

He started to groan and immediately stopped at my arched brow. We mounted up on the horses once they had been called and a portal had been opened to the Void. He looked back once more. "What town was that?"

Pitch let out an amused chuckled and looked back to the boy. "Warner, North Carolina. Why? Planning on making a Nightmare run through the town?"

Drago huffed and urged Bellini forward. "No. Of course not. I just had fun there the most tonight is all. I'd like to go back some time."

"Of course you would."

I shook my head, not addressing the issue. We returned to the lair with no mishaps, and Drago went to bed without complaint. It still felt weird to leave him on his own again, but it had been almost two weeks since we had brought him back from the Lamadary. It had also been almost two weeks since the last time I had slept properly, and the first time I had felt at ease. The moment I got the chance, I would sleep very well. However, I wasn't ready to end Halloween just yet.

I grinned as Pitch's arm snaked around my waist. "Halloween is still only half over on the other side of the world," he said. "Enough time to do a few scares just the two of us."

I hummed in amusement as I led us in the direction of our room up a set of stone staircases. "But that requires us going back out." I bit my lip and glanced back at the door as he turned the light off inside. "And I don't want to leave him here." I knew he had plenty of protection in the lair, and he was in no immediate danger anymore, but still…

He understood but didn't stop our pace. "We don't have to go anywhere to enjoy Halloween alone."

I gave him a mischievous smirk. "You do still owe me a night. Perfect night as any to cash it in."

"Before all that though, I have something for you." He kept stride as he pulled a familiar piece of leather from his coat. Something silver caught in the little bit of light we got in the main halls.

My breath caught in my throat as we stopped outside our room. "My collar?"

"Not exactly. It's the same idea, but different leather. I went and found the skull while you were sleeping one day."

I lifted my hair and let him put it back on, fastening the knots so they would never pull out. I had missed the feel of having my throat wounds covered. And I had missed my skull. I looked at it and let it rest against my clavicle. "So is it still the first gift you've given me, or the latest?"

He let out an amused huff. "We'll say it's a refurbished gift." He let us inside and I almost wanted to forgo all other plans and sink into the cool sheets to sweet blissful sleep.

I watched him move to tend to the fireplace and I fidgeted in place as something nagged at me from before. "Hey, earlier, when you asked if I was pregnant?" I waited for him to acknowledge the question with a noise. "You didn't seem angry."

"I wouldn't have been if you were. But I'm not upset that you're not. One is more than enough for right now, so we've seen in our case." He stood from the fireplace. "Maybe in a few more years. Not now." He motioned for me to follow him to the bed. "For now, nothing else matters. No kids, no Guardians, no zombies, nothing."

I put my legs slightly around his as he stood at the foot of the bed. I grinned as he cupped my face and kissed me gently. "Nothing but this."

"Exactly."

I pushed on his chest with both hands, sending him to his back as I sat over his hips, feeling a mix of a mild fear high and the rush of power from All Hallows. "I think I can live with that."

He purred and rolled us over with ease. "Who said I wanted you in control now?"

I fought his hold, seeing his playful grin. "I did. Now get on your back and do as you're told."

He growled in amusement. "Only if you do it first."

I managed to roll him again, but he kept up the momentum, both of us not thinking. We ended up on the rug, pulling the sheets with us. Now we both had the grace of our son. We burst out laughing as the moment of play fighting vanished. He held on to me, cackling apologies while I did the same. We didn't move even after the laughter vanished. "We're alright, aren't we?"

"As much as we'll ever be. Dysfunctional as always, to the point of being somewhat functional."

I elbowed his ribs and leaned up, feeling the urge to sleep overruling the ache for sex, as kinky and sexy as I knew it would be. "I'll pounce you when I'm awake again. I can't do this much longer." I crawled into bed, not caring it was his side we had fallen from. Nor did I care I was still fully dressed.

I heard him sigh before he took my arms and forced me up. "I know how to use that computer you have in the den. Not like I'll die without another night of sex." I saw him roll his eyes and I knew he was kidding. He helped me sit up and asked where my nightgown had been thrown earlier.

I got undressed while he found it and tossed it to me. I put it on and took off my pants, once again collapsing on his side.

"I'll have none of that." He rolled me over despite my whine of protest, but he made it up to me by tossing the blankets back over the bed.

The moment the sheets enveloped me I drifted off to sleep, the first real, unassisted sleep in awhile. In the darkness of my mind, I felt the pull of a familiar presence. I let it lead me to an image of clarity, a creation of his doing, not mine. My breath caught in my throat and I pressed my hands together, covering my nose and mouth in surprise. He had brought us to Sedlec again, underneath the chandelier.

"I'd like to take you back now that everything is as it should be again." He shrugged and gave a flippant gesture with his arm. "Then again, if it would be too much for you—"

I didn't let him finish as I hugged him, throwing him off. "I'd love to go back. There's so many stories to learn."

It always made him chuckle at my enthusiasm to learn the tales of those who had died. Human lives were fascinating when examined through the years, and seeing how much has changed. Living through the progress, you don't notice it. When you lived for as long as you could survive, years melded together. Trends and art and music and cultures overall.

It was probably why we were so comfortable around each other. It had been so long, we knew how the other worked and thought most of the time. We still argued, of course. We were far from perfect, and could be stubborn at times. There were points even two hundred, three hundred years ago where we would take a year away from each other to remember what we had. The nights we would meet again after a year had passed…

He smirked, and I forgot he could read my thoughts easier when our dreams were synced. "Yes, I remember the necessary breaks. You can't expect to have two vile beings living together without going at each other's throats from time to time. Then again, you'd still bruise my throat when we'd come together again."

I met his smirk, poking my tongue between my teeth. It was the only place on his body that bruised without me fearing I would bite clear through his skin. I was many things, but a cannibal was not one of them. Bits of blood here and there from bites and scratches were one thing but… I could do without whole bits of flesh.

"When was the last time we had one of those breaks? The year break, not the hundred year one."

I frowned, trying to think. "Almost a hundred and fifty, I think." I nodded. "Yes, that had to be it. That was when I found my tower in Germany." I looked up at the bones, spinning in a slow circle to take it all in. "That was one of the lesser return nights, if I remember correctly."

"I wasn't exactly myself at that time."

"Which we don't speak of. Though it only made the morning in the cemetery all the better." He caught my arms and held me still, making me aware of the spinning sensation behind my eyes. "And I don't want another break for awhile." I giggled as he bit the tip of my pointed ear. "You haven't pissed me off enough yet."

"I'm working on it." He must have seen me keep my focus on the bones. "You can't interact with these. I couldn't create a dream world that interactive in such a short time."

I shrugged. "No matter. I get to see the real things soon enough anyway, right?"

He nodded. "Right."

I held on to his arms as he wrapped them around my waist and rested his chin on my shoulder. "What do we do now?"

"Carry on my wayward son?"

I cracked a grin. "There will be peace when you are done?"

He chuckled. "Lay your weary head to rest."

I started laughing too hard to say my part of the last line to the chorus, letting him finish it alone. "I'm getting delirious even in my dream. I need to sleep." I giggled as he pressed his lips to my exposed neck.

"Fine. I'll take the hint. I may as well start calling you my wife if you're going to make up excuses to not sleep with me."

I elbowed his ribs. "You know, the humans do have a system. If they live together for seven years, they basically are married."

"If that's the case, I've missed a lot of wedding anniversaries, haven't I?"

It was remarkable that I could still feel so giddy after so many centuries. "Yes. You win the award for worst husband ever." I tugged at his hold and groaned when he wouldn't let go. "Come on, Oogie, I'm tired. Stop being a bad man and let your technical wife sleep." It left a weird tingle in my nerves to say such things and I looked back at him. "I know that look."

He shook his head and let me go. "What look?"

"That look where you get a brilliant idea but have to think it over a few times because it could either work or be potentially catastrophic." I crossed my arms. "So what is it and if I don't like it I'll say it was the delirium."

He shrugged. "I was merely pondering if we should just accept the titles at this point. Skip inviting people and stressing and having you mad and throwing things at me when I pissed you off more than normal." He let out a breath of a laugh as I rolled my eyes. "Not like anything would change."

"I suppose it wouldn't." I rubbed my arms. "Is that what you even want? I'm not saying no, but… what about you?"

"What about me? Just because of who I am, I'm not allowed to have a wife to come home to?"

I scoffed and smiled as he slipped his hands over my hips. "Alright then. Hana Black it is."

"In public." He caught my lips with his for a moment. "In private, just to me, Serah Pitchiner."

That went deeper than just accepting his last name. "Isn't that an entirely different story?"

"If you're taking one of my last names, you're taking both of them."

I rolled my eyes and kissed him again. "You're lucky I never liked either one of my last names. Otherwise one of us may have an overinflated ego."

"Oh, is it me?"

I shoved at his shoulders as he cackled. "Just for that I want the biggest diamond you can find."

He scoffed. "There are more meaningful gems out there than diamonds." He shifted me away slightly and held out a hand. In his palm, the image of a beautiful, simple ring showed through. It held one solitary stone, very small, but it didn't need to be any bigger. The stone looked like it had flecks of diamond in it. "Where I come from, there is a mineral called star crystal. The crystals are very delicate and hard to cut. They're not rare, but they're not common either. They were used for personal gifts, marriages, births, the same as gems here are. It just means more than 'I wasn't sure what to find you'. These were purchased when you wanted to tell someone you loved them, and truly meant it." He nodded down at the ring. "This I had made when I was first married. I keep both rings hidden away." He closed his palm, and I wasn't sure what to say. "I can find them again."

"I couldn't…" I took his closed hand. "A crystal would be wonderful, but I couldn't take the ring that belonged to her. It wouldn't feel right."

He nodded, seeming to understand. He smirked. "Besides, we don't need pieces of old jewelry to let the world know, right?"

I nodded too. "Anyone objects, we send them on a loop of endless nightmares." He seized up and I got worried. "Oogie?"

"I may or may not have left Death in that cell on a loop of endless nightmares." He looked around innocently. "I also may or may not have forgotten about her."

I stood there stunned for a moment before I burst out laughing again, holding my sides. The karma. I couldn't handle it. "I-I think we can worry about her in a few more hours. Not like it'll be the death of her." I started laughing harder. "Before you bombard me with more good news, I'm going back to my dreams. I promise I will ride you into the ground once the sun sets."

He let me keep going. "I'll hold you to that, my lovely wife, or I'll hold you to the nearest solid object and make sure we're both satisfied."

I couldn't stop the stupid grin that took over my face as I kept my back to him, my hands folded behind my back. "Sounds like a date, my terrifying husband."

His cackle faded out as I parted the combined dreams, retreating into my own to get the sleep I had been needing for days.

When I woke, the room was empty, and the fireplace had died down. I stretched out, but retracted my limbs when I felt something on my neck. I smiled as I held the intrusive object, seeing the very old ruby he had brought home as a gift one night. On the table beside me, a note was propped up. I took it and sat up.

 _I know we had a date, but I've gone to release Deidra from the nightmares. I think she's learned her lesson. I'll break the news to her as gently as I can—_ which translated to he was going to make sure she had no excuses to continue her useless pursuits— _but you know how she is._

_I know you didn't want diamond or star crystals, so this is the best you're getting for now. Give me some time and I'll find something that suits us best. And yes, I kept it. I wasn't about to let go of a gem like that. For more than the worth, of course._

_I've taken Drago with me so you can catch up on your sleep. You'll need it for tonight._

I chuckled at the note and stretched out again, retreating under the comfort of the blankets again. All the events the past few weeks had put strain on me that I hadn't even noticed before. I stared at the ruby, stroking the smooth surface while I eased my mind again. He was right. It didn't change a thing. And for that, I was glad. The next thing I knew I had drifted off, welcoming the last thing of peace I needed.

* * *

"I think you killed her, Dad."

"Nonsense. She'll be fine."

"She looks dead."

"She's fine… ish." I looked at the pale mess of a woman on the floor, and then to Drago. "She's fine."

"Dad, she's twitching."

"See, there you go. They're not dead if they're twitching. It'll wear off in an hour or so. She'll be her… lovely self again in no time."

He arched a brow at me. "Have you done this before?"

"Would you look at the time? Maybe we can find that girlfriend of yours."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm going to find Aunt Clara. At least she's nice."

I chuckled as he stalked by. "Of course. Until you mention you found a human girl you like."

He exited into the hall, grumbling things under his breath. I crossed my arms with an amused smirk.

"Everything is fine," I muttered. I glanced back at Death and called up one of my Nightmares, a large one. "Don't do anything. Just stand there. That should be enough to seal the deal." The Nightmare nickered and did as I said while I exited into the corridor as well. I took in a deep breath of satisfaction, closing the door behind me. It was a new beginning. A fresh start for us all. I smirked and started to hum Kansas as I followed my son's path upstairs keeping to the shadows.

There were a lot of people in the world to be scared if we were going to start anew. I had more inspiration than ever for ways to draw out the humans' dreams. To make them fear for their lives.

While it was true what I said, nothing would change, I had lied. They could have their peace. I would have my nightmares and dread. She wouldn't change who I was as the Boogeyman, but she had changed who I was as a man. That little remaining humanity ended up being my greatest advantage. By being able to understand why something was scary, it made it all the more glorious when it pulled through. In the long run, that was what mattered. I didn't have to explain myself or defend myself to her or to my son. And I would protect that with my life.


End file.
